Franco Colapinto has made quite the impact in Formula 1 already, but his most recent race in Sao Paulo has prompted some words of advice from James Vowles ahead of Las Vegas.
The Argentine has been hugely impressive for Williams since he joined the team at the Italian Grand Prix for the remainder of the 2024 season.
Colapinto has scored points in two of his six Grand Prix so far – collecting five more points than the driver he replaced, Logan Sargeant, managed in over a year and a half with the team.
The 21-year-old had finished in the top 12 in every race before the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, where he endured his most challenging race yet.
James Vowles tells Franco Colapinto to ‘take more care’ in Las Vegas after his crashes in Sao Paulo
On a weekend affected by torrential rain and multiple stoppages, Williams had a torrid weekend as both Colapinto and teammate Alex Albon found the barriers in qualifying and caused substantial damage to their cars.
The team were unable to get Albon’s car fixed in time for the race, but managed to get Colapinto’s ready in a great effort. Despite this, the Argentine crashed again in the Grand Prix in a heavy impact that brought out the red flag, hurting Williams significantly in costs.
Chief mechanic Ben Howard claims Williams are in a better position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix as they hope to put their Sao Paulo woes behind them.
Speaking on Sky Sports F1 after FP2, team principal Vowles outlined the advice he gave to Colapinto after his two costly crashes in Brazil.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Williams driver Franco Colapinto with praise to stats
“I mean, the day I tell him how to drive the car is probably not a good day!” he said.
“The main thing is this. What I’ve asked from both drivers this weekend is build up into it. We’ve had a tough last few weeks. We’ve got our spare condition in a situation where you have two racing cars at full spec.
“But we’ve just got to take more care, build into it, especially around here in Vegas. The track is different to most, and you’ll see tomorrow, qualifying they’ll pick it up quite a bit, FP3 they’ll pick it up on the step towards it.”
Will Franco Colapinto be on the grid in 2025?
While the Argentine has been very impressive in a short amount of time, he faces the problem of Williams not having a seat for him for 2025, as Albon and Carlos Sainz are locked in long-term.
Colapinto has been heavily linked with Red Bull, with their junior team Visa Cash App RB having the last remaining seat on the grid for next season.
The 21-year-old’s future in F1 largely depends on whether Sergio Perez will leave Red Bull at the end of the year. If that happens, Liam Lawson is the favourite to be promoted to Red Bull, thus opening the door for Colapinto.
However, Lawrence Barretto says RB are likely to sign Isack Hadjar over Colapinto if Lawson is promoted to Red Bull. If Perez is to stay with the Milton Keynes-based outfit, the Kiwi driver will likely be the second RB driver in 2025, putting Colapinto on the sidelines.
The Argentine could stay with Williams in a reserve driver role behind Albon and Sainz, or could even return to Formula 2 before he targets a return to F1 in 2026.
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