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F2 star Franco Colapinto not in strongest position for F1 seat Vowles

Vowles realistic about F1 hopeful 'We haven't provided him that yet'

18 August at 09:00
Last update 18 August at 09:06
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  • Toby Nixon
  • Editor

After many months and a lot of effort, Williams finally got their man. Carlos Sainz signed for the British team on a multiyear contract. The Sainz deal took an awfully long time to get over the line, however, meaning Williams was sure to have discussed their future with other drivers. One of these was Williams Academy driver and F2 star Franco Colapinto, who revealed that his management pushed hard to secure him a 2025 F1 seat.

Vowles: 'Colapinto not in the strongest place for F1 seat'

For Colapinto, the move up to Formula One did not materialise. The F2 star shared his story earlier this week. The Argentinian believes he would have been the second choice at Williams if James Vowles could not sign Carlos Sainz from Ferrari.

Colapinto was awarded an FP1 run in the FW45 in Silverstone earlier this year. Williams's team principal James Vowles explained what he thought would be best for the Argentinian's future in the press conference that day. "Our investment, our commitment to them (academy drivers) has to be an amount of time in a historic car and an amount of time with preparation to make sure that if we choose them to go forward, they're effectively in the strongest place they can be and we haven't provided that to Franco at this point."

The Argentinian won two races in F3 last year, finishing fourth overall. This season in F2, Colapinto has won once and secured two podiums for MP Motorsport. The F1 hopeful did recognise the risk Williams might have taken in signing another rookie. Especially after Logan Sargeant's tenure with the team only led to the American scoring a single point in his two seasons so far within his 35 F1 starts.