Franco Colapinto’s manager admits ‘reality’ of Williams star’s future after F1 debut

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Franco Colapinto began his Formula 1 career driving to 12th place at the Italian Grand Prix amongst a lot of media attention.

The Argentinian made very few mistakes over the weekend at Monza. The one notable error was touching the gravel during qualifying at the exit of Lesmo 2.

Colapinto will compete at Williams for the remaining eight races of the season after replacing Logan Sargeant, a huge opportunity in the 21-year-old’s career.

There are limited seats left on the Formula 1 grid for the 2025 season, and the door is closed at Williams with Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon committed to the team.

When speaking to Campeones TV, the Argentinian’s manager, Jamie Campbell, admitted that a full-time drive on the F1 grid for next year is highly unlikely.

Franco Colapinto’s team has already begun work to find him a drive ahead of next season

As options in Formula 1 remain limited, Colapinto will have to deliver strong results over the next eight races, as his next opportunity in F1 may not be in the near future.

The Williams driver had been performing well during his rookie campaign in Formula 2, taking victory in the Sprint Race at Imola.

He had developed well over the season and impressed during an outing in first practice for Williams ahead of the British Grand Prix.

Campbell believes that the key is for there to be as little pressure on Colapinto as possible and to take it one step at a time.

He said: “Franco has been given an opportunity, luckily. One and a half weeks ago, we didn’t expect this opportunity to be coming. We thought we would be in Formula 2. So we mustn’t get ahead of ourselves, and we must take this as an opportunity to perform at the highest level.

“At the moment, it looks like there will not be a seat in Formula 1 next year. That’s the reality.  But what we do know at the moment is Franco has eight races to show what he’s made of with no pressure from the team or us.

“We need him to grow day by day. Then what the future will hold, we will see. It’s something that we’ve already started working on we pretty much know now that he will not be on the grid in Formula 1 in 2025.”

Franco Colapinto’s best option might be another year in Formula 2 next year

As so few seats remain in Formula 1 ahead of the 2025 season, returning to Formula 2 for an entire year may be Colapinto’s best option.

He drove well during the opening rounds in F2 before moving to Formula 1, and with the extra experience he will gain from the end of this season, he could be a title contender in 2025 in Formula 2.

Formula 2 is highly competitive but it can be unpredictable with the clutch and Mecachrome engine suffering from unreliability at times.

Other series, such as Super Formula in Japan, may not be as appealing although it is closely-fought, Colapinto won’t be surrounded by the F1 paddock.