Christian Horner and Helmut Marko now have different plans for Franco Colapinto at Red Bull

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Franco Colapinto faces an uncertain future in Formula 1 but isn’t short of potential options.

Williams took a calculated gamble on promoting Franco Colapinto to replace the last driver brought through from their academy into F1.

Logan Sargeant’s performances became unacceptable after a costly crash at Zandvoort and all eyes were on Argentina’s first Formula 1 driver for 23 years at Monza.

Although the 21-year-old didn’t score points, an 8th-place finish at the following race in Baku bettered Sargeant’s best-ever performance in F1.

Colapinto secured another top-ten finish in Austin, all while knowing that he wouldn’t have a race seat at Williams in 2025.

The Grove-based team had already signed Carlos Sainz to replace Sargeant and partner Alex Albon for next season.

It means Colapinto is suddenly on the market and in demand and a report from Motorsport has shared the feelings within one of Formula 1’s biggest teams towards the Argentinian.

Red Bull are facing a driver conundrum of their own, with Sergio Perez struggling to justify his place alongside Max Verstappen.

Team principal Christian Horner was spotted speaking to James Vowles in the Williams paddock at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Horner and chief advisor Helmut Marko are the two decision-makers that Colapinto needs to impress, but right now they have differing opinions on his future.

Christian Horner and Helmut Marko disagree over Williams driver Franco Colapinto

The question Red Bull face is which team to place Colapinto in should they manage to extract him from Williams.

Williams are demanding a significant sum for Colapinto and Red Bull don’t want to loan him from James Vowles’s team, as if he performs as well as expected, his asking price will only increase.

Marko apparently sees Liam Lawson as the best option to partner Verstappen next year.

He’s made his feelings clear all season that he wants to promote homegrown talent, which is why he doesn’t have much interest in persisting with an underperforming Perez for much longer.

The Austrian would therefore like to place Colapinto at RB and use Yuki Tsunoda as a yardstick against yet another teammate.

READ MORE: Who is Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko? Everything to know

However, Horner’s plan for Colapinto is different, as he’d like to place Colapinto immediately alongside Verstappen at Red Bull.

This is because he would like to ‘maximize the financial potential of Colapinto’ given his incredible popularity in Argentina and South America in general.

If Perez were dropped, that would see a significant decrease in commercial sponsorship, however, Colapinto has also held talks with Carlos Slim who is one of the Mexican’s biggest backers.

Red Bull could ask Franco Colapinto’s sponsors to facilitate 2025 move

Colapinto is already an extremely expensive asset despite having raced in just six Grand Prix.

Williams were wise to sign Colapinto up to a long-term deal when he stepped up in Sargeant’s place.

They know that he’ll be their reserve driver if no move materialises, giving Williams one of the strongest combinations of drivers in the paddock.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Williams driver Franco Colapinto with praise to stats

Colapinto’s backing in F1 is very impressive and the yellow portion of Williams’s car in Mexico City and Sao Paulo was linked to his new sponsors.

Red Bull could Colapinto’s sponsors to help pay for his move should they want to keep him on the grid.

It might not be an easy conversation but may be an important negotiation tactic from Horner and Marko.