Williams boss James Vowles has disclosed that Franco Colapinto has told him that he wants to be matching Alex Albon come the end of the 2024 Formula 1 season.
The Grove-based squad’s decision to drop Logan Sargeant prior to the Italian Grand Prix has witnessed Colapinto given the chance to compete in nine F1 Grands Prix.
Colapinto, who made his F1 weekend debut earlier this term in FP1 at Silverstone, delivered an assured debut at Monza as he made up six places to come home 12th.
Vowles hailed Colapinto’s maiden F1 race as a positive outing as he ended up 14 seconds behind team-mate Albon, who was ninth, having qualified nine places down.
According to Vowles, the Argentine has set his sights on being able to operate on Albon’s level in the upgraded Williams FW46 car once the season ends in Abu Dhabi.
“He has nothing to prove to the world,” Vowles told media including Motorsport Week at the Italian GP. “Other drivers have something to prove to the world.
“What that means is you’re not going to see a driver going out there trying to demonstrate to everyone, I have a deserving place in this world.
“And so therefore he knows that he has time to build into it. We start here in Monza because he has the least experience in Monza in this circumstance and that’s important to him.
“Next, what we’re expecting of him, his own words, this is not mine, is that he knows how to progress race and race.
“He’s done the same in Formula 2 this year. If you look at where he started and where he is now, it’s a very different picture between the two.
“And the way you do that is you build up in a method that’s systematic and he has that available to him.
“His own words are, by the end of the year, he should be matching Alex and on the journey there he should be closing the gap every race weekend. I think those are realistic targets.
“They’re not ones I set him. What I’ve said to him is actually more enjoy the moment and enjoy the element of things. Don’t think about the million details that come towards you.
“Focus on the ones that generate milliseconds of performance and use this as an experience gain. His own targets are that, and I think that’s somewhat reasonable.”
However, Colapinto’s outings will not serve as an audition to earn a permanent race drive with Williams as it will welcome outgoing Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz in 2025.
Vowles, though, is adamant that Colapinto has the chance to become an enticing proposition to either Williams or a rival F1 side should a seat open up down the line.
Asked about what the Grove-based squad’s plans are with Colapinto past 2024, Vowles explained: “So even before he was here coming into this F1 seat, we were looking at his future.
“As a part of our academy, our responsibility is to work with him, with his teams around him as well, to where your future lies. And there’s opportunities in other racing series.
“As I said, depending on how he performs, the future to a certain extent is in his hands.
“What I mean by that is if he performs exceptionally well, clearly he’ll remain here as a reserve driver and we’ll invest in him in terms of TPC testing and other elements that we’re able to do with him at the same time. You may see interest from other teams as well, depending on how he performs. So he has a future in that regard.
“And Formula 1 is fickle. Look at what’s changed in six months, let alone one year.
“So no one here around this table knows what opportunities exist in any of the teams in 2025 or 2026, the truth.
“So you’re investing in someone that I think will have opportunity and there are still seats available on the grid as well.”
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