Martin Brundle gives his verdict on Franco Colapinto’s promotion to F1 with Williams

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Franco Colapinto will become the first Argentinian Formula 1 driver on the grid since Gaston Mazzacane in 2001 this weekend at Monza.

The 21-year-old was promoted from Formula 2 to take Logan Sargeant’s seat for the remaining nine races of the 2024 season.

The American struggled greatly in his time in F1, scoring just one point in 36 race starts. His huge crash at Zandvoort during practice looked to be the final straw as Sargeant’s mechanics looked fed up with him after the accident

READ MORE: Williams driver Logan Sargeant’s life outside F1 from height to Donald Trump ties

Colapinto’s arrival has been met with widespread excitement and support from fans and fellow drivers alike. Rubens Barrichello sent Colapinto a message of congratulations on social media after the announcement.

Coming off the back of an impressive F2 season thus far, as he sat sixth in the standings with a win in the Sprint Race at Imola, Colapinto will be keen to impress the Williams hierarchy in his opportunity in F1.

Martin Brundle assesses Williams’ driver switch

Speaking before FP1 at Monza on Sky Sports F1, Martin Brundle gave his opinion on Williams’ decision to drop Sargeant in favour of the Argentine.

It appeared that the American’s time in F1 was coming to an end long before the Dutch Grand Prix. After his crash, that speculation intensified, with Sargeant himself saying he ‘could care less’ about the rumours of his Williams future.

According to Brundle, Williams had to make a decision on Sargeant, but he is not jumping on the hype train with Colapinto just yet.

“F1 is not a finishing school, it is the pinnacle. If you don’t deliver, someone else comes in and delivers. That is the way it operates,” Brundle said.

“Incredible heritage from the Argentinian Grand Prix and drivers such as Fangio and Gonzalez, Reutemann of course and if you see a medley of the incidents Logan has had, he has done a lot of damage so I am not surprised Williams have made a change.

“Nothing abut Colapinto’s career to date shouts to me, ‘wow, look out, he is going to be something special’ but I have learnt over the decades not to judge anyone good or bad on their way in and let’s see how they do when the pressure is on.”

Can Franco Colapinto perform at Williams?

Several drivers had been linked with the vacant seat after Sargeant’s departure. Mick Schumacher had been heavily rumoured to take the drive, but team principal James Vowles opted against Schumacher to bring up Colapinto.

With Williams’ recent upgrades potentially putting them in a position to score points, Colapinto is in good stead to impress in his opportunity with the Grove-based team.

The 21-year-old would not be the only part-time driver to perform with the team. Nyck de Vries scored points on his debut with Williams after Alex Albon pulled out of the Italian Grand Prix in 2022 with appendicitis.

Colapinto got his first F1 appearance in FP1 at Monza, where he finished the session in 17th place, over 1.2 seconds behind the time topper Max Verstappen. Williams teammate Albon was six tenths up on the Argentine in eighth.

The 21-year-old did have a moment at Parabolica towards the end of the session as he got a snap of oversteer and went into the gravel. Colapinto was not the only one to go off at the high-speed corner as Andrea Kimi Antonelli spun and crashed into the barrier after just ten minutes.

After a fairly smooth first F1 session and with support from the fans, no doubt in huge amounts in his home nation Argentina, all eyes will be on Colapinto for these next nine races.