What James Vowles thinks is ‘too high an expectation’ to put on Franco Colapinto

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Franco Colapinto impressed during his Formula 1 debut, finishing in 12th place at the Italian Grand Prix, on the verge of the points.

The Argentinian made just one notable error over the weekend, running slightly wide at the exit of Lesmo 2, touching the gravel.

Colapinto was a driver that divided opinion when he was chosen to replace the outgoing Logan Sargeant as he had very little experience behind the wheel of an F1 car.

He impressed during first practice for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, catching the attention of Williams team principal James Vowles.

Vowles was pleased with Colapinto’s driving at Monza but conceded the 21-year-old would need to be ‘absolutely perfect’ at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to score points, via quotes from motorsport.com.

James Vowles believes there’s ‘every reason to be encouraged’ at how Franco Colapinto could perform in F1

Colapinto put in an impressive debut weekend for Williams, but there could be tougher tests ahead, including the next two Grands Prix in Azerbaijan and Singapore.

Both are incredibly unforgiving street circuits that the Williams driver is yet to race on and have punished the best drivers on the Formula 1 grid over the years.

Temporary tracks require much more precision to be on the limit than permanent venues, as it is vital to get close to the barriers and maximise the track width.

Vowles is anticipating good things from Colapinto but warned that Williams still need to update their car at a good rate, to make scoring points easier.

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

He said: “I would still say that there’s every reason to be encouraged at how he’s going to perform in Baku and Singapore and all the remaining tracks. I think he could have scored points if qualifying had gone well.

“A little bit is on us. We have to improve the car at the right rate, and there are more updates coming that will help us push more concretely into that point-scoring region.

“When the package is on the car, his chances become all the remaining races. But answering the question more formally, in Baku he still has a chance, but he has to be absolutely perfect that weekend, and I think it’s too high an expectation to put on his shoulders.”

James Vowles has been proved right so far by Franco Colapinto at Williams

Before Colapinto was chosen to take over the Williams seat, Sargeant was underperforming and making too many costly errors for the team to move forward efficiently.

In the cost cap era, teams have to spend their money wisely and Williams’ development was been held back as they had to spend resources on spare parts.

Vowles felt a change needed to be made, and the Briton trusted Colapinto, who had stepped up from the Williams junior programme.

The Argentinian has a good starting point and scoring his first point will be a significant milestone in his career.