Franco Colapinto generated a lot of interest in his native Argentina as he joined the Formula 1 grid to make his debut at the Italian Grand Prix.
Williams brought in the Argentine to replace Logan Sargeant, who failed to match his teammate Alex Albon and crashed too often.
Colapinto has been impressive and scored his first points with eighth place at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, bouncing back from a confidence-knocking crash in practice.
He also crashed multiple times at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, which was his first time experiencing a Formula 1 car in the rain and treacherous conditions.
The Red Bull programme were interested in Colapinto but could place their junior driver Isack Hadjar in the RB team after an impressive Formula 2 season.
Alpine’s interest cooled after they had fears around Colapinto, and his lack of experience in Formula 1 may have also been a concern.
Colapinto has sparked a boost of interest in Formula 1 back in Argentina and a compatriot of his may be planning to race in Formula 1 in 2026.
Franco Colapinto’s former teammate Nicolas Varrone outlined his plan to race for Cadillac in F1 in 2026
Nicolas Varrone was part of the same karting team as Colapinto and they spent a lot of time together in their junior careers.
The Argentine began on the ladder to Formula 1 but ran out of money while racing in Formula 3 and was forced to switch to endurance racing. He has since been very successful and won at Le Mans twice.
Varrone is a General Motors driver, and the Cadillac Formula 1 team’s arrival on the grid in 2026 may allow him to switch back to single-seaters and race at the highest level.
There are some difficult aspects for Varrone as he hasn’t been racing in single-seaters while competing in LMP2 and GT cars.
Varrone explained in an interview with Clarin that he has to race in single-seaters next year in a category such as Formula 2 or IndyCar to give himself a chance of racing in F1.
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He said: “Next year I have to be in a formula category to be able to show and be more on the radar of what would be a possible incorporation, so to speak. After that, there are a lot of things to take into account, a lot of factors: companies, money that can be contributed.
“We all know that Formula 1 is a very big business and it is also being experienced now with Franco as sponsors begin to arrive, the exposure.
“The main thing would be to be in a formula car next year. In some categories: Formula 2, IndyCar, whatever. And to have a good season to show General Motors and who knows to other people what one can do in a formula car.”
It is unlikely Nicolas Varrone will make it on to the Formula 1 grid
Varrone has bene incredibly successful in endurance racing as he has won his class at Le Mans in both of the last two seasons in a GT car and an LMP2.
Racing in single-seaters is very different as the cars have much more downforce, and the tyres are difficult to manage, particularly in F1 and Formula 2.
It is rare to see a driver from endurance racing move over to single-seaters and be succesful. Brendon Hartley has won at Le Mans outright three times but struggled in Formula 1 during a brief spell at Toro Rosso.
There are also other candidates Varrone will have to compete with such as Colapinto who will be looking to return to the grid in 2026.
