Franco Colapinto was one of the standout performers in the latter parts of 2024 having achieved points finishes on merit with Williams.
The Argentine was called up by Williams to replace the underperforming Logan Sargeant for the final nine races of the season, scoring points in Baku and Austin.
When he was signed for the final races of 2024 by James Vowles, it was after Williams had announced they planned to sign Carlos Sainz alongside Alex Albon for 2025.
This meant Colapinto would need to look elsewhere for a seat if he wanted to stay on the grid, with Red Bull and RB showing interest in the Argentine. They eventually opted for Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar, who were promoted into each of their vacant race seats.
Discussing whether he felt Colapinto had a chance to replace any of the drivers, Red Bull sim racing driver Rudy van Buren felt there was one reason why the Argentine received a lot of hype when speaking on the RacingNews365 NL podcast.
Franco Colapinto hype came from fans says Rudy van Buren
Colapinto received a lot of support from Argentine fans at races across the US, Mexico and Brazil in the races that he contested.
It drummed up a lot of support for him, with Alpine also showing interest in Colapinto given the commercial success Williams was having with increased sponsor interest.
Van Buren thinks much of the hype around Colapinto was initially generated by fans: “Do I think Colapinto was as much of a superstar as what was being made?”
“Well no, because I think he was in the right place at the right time and he had the whole fanbase from South America backing him which really created the hype, which is what you need at the moment [you make your debut].
“Only then came the crashes and suddenly everyone said ‘Yeah, we’re not so sure’.”
Franco Colapinto interest worn off by late season crashes
Colapinto got caught up in several accidents that cost Williams a lot of money towards the end of the season.
Williams racked up a crash bill that reached seven figures, with Colapinto one of the main contributors with crashes in Brazil, Las Vegas, and Qatar.
READ MORE: Who is Williams academy driver Franco Colapinto? Everything to know
Helmut Marko was not sure that Colapinto was worth the money after the spate of incidents right when there was a lot of scrutiny on the driver.
Despite the crashes, Colapinto’s ability to slot into the Williams seat and be competitive is likely to win over teams who may need to seek an alternative next year if their current lineup is underperforming.
