‘Fantastic’ driver proved he should be on F1 grid at Azerbaijan Grand Prix for Karun Chandhok

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One driver stunned Karun Chandhok during qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix by producing a result on Saturday that proved they deserve to be on the Formula 1 grid.

Drives for 2025 are filling up quickly with only two left up for grabs, despite there still being eight rounds of the 2024 season to complete. Audi and Red Bull hold the keys to occupying the seats still available at Sauber and Visa Cash App RB with the other 18 inhabited already.

Audi is weighing up who should join current Haas pilot Nico Hulkenberg at Sauber ahead of turning the team into its works entry in 2026. Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu are both set to be out of contract with Sauber, and only the former seems to have a chance to stay now.

Karun Chandhok thinks Franco Colapinto deserves a Formula 1 seat

Bottas has an 80% chance of staying at Sauber in 2025 after dominating Zhou in their head-to-head battle this year. But the Finn is not guaranteed to keep a seat as Mattia Binotto has held talks with Gabriel Bortoleto about joining Audi, if McLaren agree to free the Brazilian.

Should Bortoleto join Sauber next year, it could leave Franco Colapinto without a Formula 1 drive once the Argentine’s temporary spell at Williams ends. The Grove squad only placed the 21-year-old in their car for the rest of this season after deciding to drop Logan Sargeant.

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

Carlos Sainz will join Williams as Alex Albon’s teammate in 2025, leaving no room at the inn for Colapinto. But Chandhok believes the Williams junior driver proved in qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix why Colapinto deserved to get his chance on the Formula 1 grid now.

Chandhok could only praise Colapinto after the Buenos Aires native shot to P3 on the board midway through Q1. He was also just 0.109 seconds off the pace that Sergio Perez posted to top the timesheet, and stayed there despite Lando Norris improving during the second runs.

“Colapinto, third fastest, what a lap!” Chandhok said on Sky Sports F1 (14/9, 13:09). The ex-HRT driver also added: “The team won’t mind as this is the time to push. This is qualifying.

“They’ve got a car capable of getting into Q3 [and] he’s done a fantastic job, that’s why the team have got him.”

Franco Colapinto qualified P9 for the Azerbaijan GP at his second F1 race

Colapinto continued to produce a superb effort in qualifying to secure P9 on the grid for the Azerbaijan GP. He even out-qualified Albon after Williams left a fan in his teammate’s airbox during Q3, costing the London-born Thai a chance to improve the 28-year-old’s earlier time.

READ MORE: F1 2025 driver line-up with every team’s confirmed entry for the grid

Additionally, getting to Q3 means Colapinto will become first Argentine to start a Grand Prix inside the top-10 since Carlos Reutemann in 1982 when he lines up for the Azerbaijan GP on Sunday. Even though this is only his second race in Formula 1 yet after stepping up from F2.

Williams gave Colapinto his Formula 1 debut in the Italian Grand Prix after Sargeant crashed through his own doing in practice for the Dutch Grand Prix. He also finished in P12 at Monza after qualifying in P18, so Colapinto will hope to score his first F1 points in the Azerbaijan GP.