Alex Albon shares what Franco Colapinto did on his F1 debut that left him really ‘impressed’

Follow us on Google Discover

Alex Albon has praised his teammate Franco Colapinto after making his Formula 1 debut during the Italian Grand Prix.

Colapinto finished a respectable P12 and just 14 seconds off Albon, having started from the race in P18 on the grid. By contrast, last year Logan Sargeant finished in the same position but was 33 seconds off his teammate and also picked up a five-second time penalty.

Williams team principal James Vowles elected to replace Sargeant following the Dutch GP after a string of poor results from the American, which culminated in a heavy crash at Zandvoort that forced him to miss qualifying.

Having drafted in Colapinto at short notice, the Argentine had to get up to speed pretty quickly around the fast Monza circuit. Albon was impressed by how the 22-year-old approached the weekend when speaking post-race on F1TV.

Alex Albon impressed by Franco Colapinto’s mentality

Colapinto finished P13 on track but was promoted to P12 after Daniel Ricciardo received a 10-second time penalty after his RB team failed to properly serve a penalty during the race.

After also making the one-stop strategy work, Colapinto was only 15 seconds away from scoring points on his debut with Williams.

Despite coming away empty-handed, Albon believes he made an impression on the team as they look to finish more regularly in the points in the final eight races.

“I used all my experience to save the front left tyre and he did it in his first race, so well done to him,” said Albon.

“He’s been instantly on the pace but more than anything it’s his mentality around the weekend that has been impressive. Very calm, very relaxed. A lot of things he needed to do on Thursday and Friday, and he’s been able to distance himself from it all and focus on the job.”

Franco Colapinto wants change after ‘so much pain’ in Williams

Rookie drivers usually struggle in their first race owing to the physical demands they experience, and the Italian GP was one of the hottest races of the season so far.

When speaking on the radio after the race, Colapinto said he was in ‘so much pain’ due to an issue with the seat in his FW46.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Williams Racing from team principal to Mercedes relationship

Drivers usually have seats moulded around their lower and upper body to help with comfort, although it is likely that Colapinto was using a seat that was not adjusted ahead of the weekend.

He still made an impression on the F1 paddock, with former F1 driver Karun Chandhok praising Colapinto while comparing him to Mercedes protege Andrea Kimi Antonelli.