James Vowles told what he must be ‘pushing’ Franco Colapinto to do in 2025 after Williams stint

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Formula 1 fans in Argentina would have had their alarms set for 5 am on Sunday for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to watch their new hero Franco Colapinto in action.

Williams provided Franco Colapinto with an unlikely opportunity in Formula 1 after deciding it was time to part ways with Logan Sargeant.

Team principal James Vowles has shared what happened during his latest conversation with Sargeant, but after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, it could already be argued that his decision to make the switch was justified.

Both Colapinto and Alex Albon managed to advance to Q3 and the Argentinian managed to set a faster lap than his teammate although this was slightly aided by the fact that Williams sent their more experienced driver out with a fan still attached to his car for his final qualifying lap.

The updates Williams brought over the past three races are working and both drivers managed to secure a points finish.

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

The crash between Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez elevated Albon and Colapinto to 7^th and 8^th and more than doubled their points tally for the season.

Harry Benjamin was commentating on the race and on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast, he was speaking about the Argentinian’s future.

Colapinto is in an awkward position knowing that no matter how well he drives for Williams during his nine-race cameo, he won’t be offered a full-time seat by the team for 2025.

Albon and Sainz are already confirmed for next year, but Benjamin has told Vowles that he now needs to push Colapinto into the vacant seat at Sauber.

James Vowles told he must push Franco Colapinto into Sauber’s vacant 2025 F1 seat

Talking about the 21-year-old’s first top-ten finish in Formula 1, Benjamin said: “Colapinto has never done Baku before.

“So that’s where we said, [it’s a] tough circuit for a rookie to come into.

“Williams clearly performing well anyway, and making gains on that after the upgrade that they brought in and that’s great to see for Williams because that’s been shown that they can be competitive on very different tracks now, Zandvoort, Monza, and now Baku.

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

“But honestly, while he will not get a seat at Williams next year, because we know that’s going to be Sainz and Albon, I do seriously wonder, and I do think James Vowles, as the man responsible for not only putting Colapinto into the Williams Academy, but ultimately making the risky call to put him in the seat midway through the season, should be pushing the case for Colapinto to go to Sauber, which will become Audi alongside Nico Hulkenberg.

“I think if Colapinto is not now firmly on that list and towards the top of it, he should be, as long as he’s able to carry on these performances relative to Albon, he should be.”

Is Franco Colapinto in the frame to race for Sauber next season?

Aside from the second seat at RB alongside Yuki Tsunoda which Liam Lawson is expected to fill, Sauber are the only team that still have a vacancy for next year.

There appear to be three candidates who could potentially fill the role.

The first and most obvious is Valtteri Bottas who already drives for Sauber and despite not scoring a point yet this season and being below Zhou Guanyu in the Drivers’ Championship, is their strongest option.

However, Sauber – who will become Audi in 2026 – are also looking at two very promising young drivers.

Formula 2 championship leader and McLaren junior Gabriel Bortoleto has had conversations with Mattia Binotto about the role.

Andrea Stella would be willing to loan Bortoleto out with a seat at McLaren unlikely to be available for some time.

Colapinto is also in the mix to drive for Sauber but he appears to be an outside bet at this stage.

Funding might be an issue for Colapinto if he wants to become a full-time F1 driver but Argentina have found their new racing hero, and he might need to call on that support should Sauber offer him a chance to extend his brief Formula 1 career.