James Vowles recalls the moment he told Franco Colapinto he would be a Williams F1 driver

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Williams Racing had their best weekend of the season at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as they achieved a valuable double-point finish.

Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto secured 10 points for Williams after taking advantage of a late collision between Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz.

Both drivers were in the top ten before that late crash and had looked like the strongest pairing outside of the four leading manufacturers throughout the event.

Alongside Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, Albon and Colapinto both made it into Q3 and the young Argentinian did something the man he replaced Logan Sargeant never managed which was to outqualify the Thai driver for a Grand Prix.

Team principal James Vowles would have been pondering over the summer break whether Albon and Sargeant was the right combination to guide the team through the rest of the campaign.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Williams Racing from team principal to Mercedes relationship

Albon was performing to a high level but because Sargeant was so far behind him, it was hard for the team to know if he was achieving the car’s true potential.

The Williams boss was speaking on The Fast and The Curious Podcast and shared the moment he told Colapinto that he was going to make his F1 debut in Monza.

Vowles explained that he had spoken to Sargeant since letting him go and while he’s supporting the young American, his career points tally in Formula 1 has already been surpassed by Colapinto.

Even Lewis Hamilton praised Colapinto’s performance in Baku which just goes to show what an immediate impact he’s made on the sport.

James Vowles shares the moment he told Franco Colapinto he would be racing in Formula 1

Recalling the moment, Vowles said: “When I spoke about the highest highs and the lowest lows some of the highest highs I’ve had, are for example, when I called Franco into the office on Tuesday to speak to him.

“And it’s the emotion that he felt in that period of time.

“I wish I could bottle it the same as Christina [Sullivan] was talking about when we announced Carlos [Sainz].”

Journalist Christian Hewgill then asked: “I’m guessing to say that he’s got a drive that he was going to be getting a Formula One chance?”

Coulthard continued: “Yeah, correct, that’s when I told him on the Tuesday.

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

“You’ve suddenly taken someone that’s from the age of about six been working just towards this, that has given everything into it and changed their life in one word and it’s quite impressive what it does.

“There’s very few things I can think of where you’re given that amount of responsibility and control to do that. You’ve changed someone’s life quite literally in the space of 10 seconds.

“That’s some of the highest highs, the lowest lows go with it that obviously in order to do that, there was space that’s been created.”

James Vowles now needs to plan for Franco Colapinto’s future beyond 2024

Colapinto would have known going into his debut in Monza that he wouldn’t be driving for Williams beyond the end of this season.

Albon signed a new contract earlier in the season while Sainz will join the team from Ferrari at the beginning of next year.

One suggestion was that Colapinto may return to Formula 2 in 2025 but after nine Grand Prix – and having proved he’s more than capable of racing against some of F1’s best drivers – that would feel like a significant step backwards.

Vowles has been told to try and get Colapinto into the vacant Sauber seat for next season.

That may not be easy considering that Valtteri Bottas and Gabriel Bortoleto are both in the mix to earn that position alongside Nico Hulkenberg.

However, the best thing he can do is continue to perform on the track and try to draw Mattia Binotto’s attention.