Franco Colapinto’s tough end to the F1 2024 season has resulted in the Argentinean driver failing to secure a drive for next year yet.

Parachuted in to replace the struggling Logan Sargeant at Williams after the Dutch Grand Prix, Franco Colapinto proved a sensation as he showed tremendous speed en route to points in Azerbaijan and the USA.

Alex Albon: I underestimated Franco Colapinto’s speed

Colapinto’s pace was such in his first few races that even the experienced Alex Albon was in danger of being upstaged, with Colapinto even being linked with a possible move to Red Bull or the sister Racing Bulls squad as his star soared.

But, almost inevitably, the rookie mistakes eventually appeared – crashing out in Sao Paulo behind the Safety Car was followed by a huge crash in Las Vegas at a time when Williams was struggling to keep chassis and parts available for use as Albon also went through a string of incidents.

Colapinto kept his nose clean for the final two races of the season, but failed to make a big impression – his body language suggesting he had been overwhelmed by the rapid drop in his star after vaulting to the forefront of driver market speculation.

As it stands, Colapinto appears to have no way onto the grid for now. With Red Bull’s interest cooling, the vacant seat at Racing Bulls will likely be filled by Liam Lawson or Isack Hadjar, depending on how discussions progress with Sergio Perez.

Colapinto has also been speculatively linked with a seat with Alpine, should Flavio Briatore opt against using Jack Doohan for the whole season in F1 2025.

The Argentinean has been singled out for praise by his Williams teammate Albon, with the British-Thai racer saying Colapinto deserves a slot on the grid.

“I mean, [he’s a] fantastic driver,” he told media, including PlanetF1.com, after Abu Dhabi.

“I feel like he’s proved his worth in Formula 1.

“He’s very talented. Definitely, when he joined, I underestimated just how quick he was going to be, and I believe we’ll see him in Formula 1 at some point in the future.”

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While Albon acknowledged the spate of crashes and incidents Colapinto got himself into was unfortunate, he said he understands the hows and whys of them occurring and that Colapinto isn’t entirely to blame for his subdued end to the year.

“I hope not. I don’t think he deserves it to be,” he said.

“It really goes in tandem with the performance of the car – it became tricky at the end of the season.

“It was tricky for me. I didn’t have a fantastic end to the season, and I don’t always just blame myself in that.

“So I don’t think so. I think the team also know how good he is, and other teams will be able to see that as well.”

Colapinto’s final race was compromised by being hit by Oscar Piastri during, resulting in a puncture, before a power unit issue forced his retirement.

Faced with an uncertain future, Colapinto said the last few months have been “a dream” and expressed his gratitude to Williams for giving him a chance in Formula 1.

“It hasn’t been there the last couple of races I wanted, really unlucky,” he said.

“It just hasn’t been the end of the of the season I wanted. But it’s part of it, part of Formula 1. This deal was my dream come true, and it was an amazing experience, but I would have liked much more if we would have ended as we started!

“But it’s part of F1.

“It was a dream. Since I was very young, I was waiting for this opportunity and working towards it. It’s just been an extremely good experience and [I had] very nice moments with the team. I’m very grateful for the opportunity.

“It’s been a lot of support in my home country, and just really happy to see so much support coming from Argentina, and so much so much fun getting into the sport.”

As for what he plans on doing in 2025, Colapinto replied, “I don’t know. No idea. No plans at the moment. Yeah, hopefully, I can be racing in something next year.”

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