Jenson Button reveals what Franco Colapinto has just done at Williams that ‘we’ve not seen before’

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Franco Colapinto has impressed since taking over from Logan Sargeant midway through the season at Williams.

Although the American was dealt a tough hand at the start of the year with inferior machinery to teammate Alex Albon, it was clear that his inconsistent form needed addressing to help Williams score points.

The Dutch GP was seen as one of their biggest opportunities, but Sargeant crashed spectacularly during practice and caused significant amounts of damage that forced him to start from the back of the grid.

In the days after the race Williams swapped him out for Franco Colapinto, who immediately made an impression by beating Sargeant’s career points total just two races into his stint with Williams.

At the last race in Singapore, he impressed Damon Hill who highlighted his move into the first corner on three cars as a standout.

Jenson Button, who is a shareholder in Williams, discussed Colapinto on the recent F1 Nation podcast and highlighted something that he is doing that nobody expected at the team.

Nobody at Williams expected Franco Colapinto to get close to Alex Albon

At the last two Grands Prix Colapinto has been within at least a tenth of Albon on merit without having received upgrades to his car, with the Argentine finishing ahead in Singapore.

This unexpected form has caught everyone by surprise at Williams according to Button, who thinks the next six races will be a ‘big deal’ for him.

“Very, very impressed. I think everyone is. You give someone an opportunity and you think they will take a few races to get to grips with the car, F1, the tracks, but he’s done an extremely good job,” said Button.

“To jump in and start pushing Alex as hard as he has, we’ve not seen that at Williams. Really impressed and lovely to see his confidence, how he’s working with Alex, it’s a big deal for him and people have noticed.”

James Vowles ‘open’ to loaning out Franco Colapinto to one F1 team

Colapinto will not be racing for a seat at Williams next season largely due to them having already secured their driver lineup, which will be Albon alongside Carlos Sainz.

The Argentine is also not expected to take up the remaining seat at Sauber, largely in part due to the finances required for the seat to be viable.

READ MORE: Rubens Barrichello shares what Franco Colapinto’s ‘perfect’ option is for next season

Vowles has said that he would be willing to loan out Colapinto to Audi, urging them to consider him for the future if they want a strong driver lineup.

Audi is undecided on who it will partner with Nico Hulkenberg, with McLaren junior Gabriel Bortoleto also in the running alongside Colapinto.