Franco Colapinto hails F1 rival Williams driver enraged as ‘one of the best’

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Franco Colapinto is firmly making a name for himself in Formula 1 with Williams but believes one rival he enraged at the Singapore Grand Prix is ‘one of the best’ drivers.

The 21-year-old was not supposed to set foot on a Formula 1 grid anytime soon as recently as August. But Logan Sargeant destroying his car in FP3 for the Dutch Grand Prix convinced Williams to make an early change to their line-up ahead of Carlos Sainz joining next season.

Colapinto hit the ground running upon replacing Sargeant, too, with the Argentine instantly showing Williams made the correct call. He achieved P12 on debut in the Italian Grand Prix and beat Sargeant’s year-best qualifying of P12 with P9 in Baku where Colapinto got points.

Franco Colapinto thinks Williams teammate Alex Albon is ‘one of the best’ F1 drivers

Scoring four points in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, his second race in Formula 1, instantly saw Colapinto shatter Sargeant’s career-best tally of one in 36 starts. What makes his immediate impact with Williams even more impressive is that he had rarely experienced F1 machinery.

Williams ran Colapinto in FP1 for the 2024 British Grand Prix to give the Buenos Aires native his F1 weekend debut at Silverstone. But that was his first and only time in the FW46 before hitting the track at Monza. So, Colapinto is very grateful for the help Alex Albon has offered.

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

The one-time Formula 2 Sprint Race winner thinks Albon’s advice has expedited his progress at Williams, to the point Colapinto is earning interest from Red Bull for the second Visa Cash App RB seat. It further helps that he believes Albon is ‘one of the best’ drivers in Formula 1.

“Alex has helped me a lot since I arrived in Formula 1,” Colapinto shared, via Marca. “Having a reference who, in my opinion, is one of the best on the grid is really positive.

“He has helped me to make all these steps much quicker since I arrived in Monza. I think it is a great way to start having a teammate like that.”

Franco Colapinto could be an option for Visa Cash App RB in 2025

Sargeant only scored one, fortuitous point in his Formula 1 career with P10 on home soil in the 2023 United States Grand Prix. But Colapinto beat the American’s tally with four points after finishing the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in P8, and he would finish the Singapore GP in P11.

But his immediate progress from P12 on the grid last time out also drew Williams teammate Albon’s wrath, at least at first. Albon initially vented ‘What is he doing?’ over Williams’ radio about Colapinto’s ‘divebomb’ into Turn 1 to jump past Yuki Tsunoda, Sainz and Albon in one.

Seeing replays of Colapinto’s completely fair move after the Singapore GP saw Albon change his tune and state that there was ‘nothing really to criticise’. His engine overheating further enhanced Albon’s frustration at Marina Bay, too, as he was later forced to retire on Lap 15.

Albon will hope to bounce straight back as F1 heads to the United States GP next time out. The London-born Thai will especially be keen to prove his status at Williams with Colapinto attracting interest from elsewhere given the Argentine may be without a seat in F1 in 2025.

Red Bull are expected to keep close tabs on how Colapinto performs in the last six rounds of the season. The Williams junior driver could become an option for Visa Cash App RB in 2025 if Liam Lawson fails to thrive after replacing Daniel Ricciardo for the rest of the 2024 season.