Franco Colapinto names the F1 driver he got ‘a bit of a boost’ when racing against this season

Follow us on Google Discover

Williams Racing driver Franco Colapinto has shot to stardom ever since team principal James Vowles made the unexpected decision to promote him to Formula 1.

The Italian Grand Prix saw Franco Colapinto step into Logan Sargeant’s seat and he immediately got up to pace, finishing in sight of the points despite being eliminated in Q1.

A top-ten start for Colapinto in Baku led to a top-ten finish and the Argentinian beating Sargeant’s points tally in just his second Grand Prix.

The 21-year-old then had to take on one of the most gruelling races on the calendar in Singapore and once again narrowly missed out on scoring points after a fantastic opening corner overtake that catapulted him past his teammate Alex Albon and several other cars.

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

Sergio Perez was quick to praise Colapinto during the race which would have filled Colapinto with glee considering he supported Perez while he was growing up.

Speaking to The Fast and The Curious Podcast, Colapinto recalled some of the battles he’s already had in his F1 career.

Williams have a much more competitive car now and that’s partly why they decided to replace Sargeant as Colapinto has quickly shown he wasn’t driving the FW46 to its full potential.

Colapinto proved that in Baku and admitted he was trying even harder in his battles against seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton praised Colapinto and fellow rookie Oliver Bearman after the race as he was so impressed with his racecraft on the tricky street circuit.

Franco Colapinto admits racing Lewis Hamilton gives him a ‘bit of a boost’

Reflecting on meeting Hamilton for the first time, Colapinto said: “It was great! It was great to be fighting him on track.

“I used to see him when I was very young at home, I used to wake up very early and see the races from Argentina and then at some point I came to Europe when I was still very young.

“I have that memory of seeing him fighting for championships with Fernando [Alonso] and it’s incredible to suddenly be racing with him.

READ MORE: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton’s life outside F1 from net worth to family

“When you put the helmet on when you are in the car, everyone is the same and you don’t really realise or think too much about who is next to you.

“But to have been racing with Lewis, he was fighting with me in Baku, we were I think having a nice fight with other drivers as well and at one point you start to think, wow I’m keeping Lewis behind and suddenly you start to push a bit more and get a bit closer to the wall to try and keep him behind.

“It’s like you get a bit of a boost!”

Why James Vowles was caught ‘off guard’ by Franco Colapinto during his F1 debut

Although Colapinto’s full debut came at Monza, he made his first appearance on track at Silverstone in FP1.

Williams team principal James Vowles admits being caught off guard by something Colapinto did that day, which gave him an inkling that he might be closer to being ready for F1 than many people thought.

Several rookies were testing that day and compared to Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar and Alpine’s 2025 driver Jack Doohan, Colapinto was the standout driver.

The Argentinian was having a very good debut season in F2 before his call-up but it’s become clear this season that it’s very difficult to judge how capable a driver will be in Formula 1 based on their results in the junior series.

Bearman is the ultimate example of this having struggled in Formula 2 all year – albeit in a car that hasn’t lived up to expectations – but managing to score points in each of his F1 outings thus far.