Crashes shouldn’t overshadow “fantastic” Colapinto’s Williams F1 stint

Williams driver Alex Albon thinks Franco Colapinto’s robust remaining Components 1 races with the squad shouldn’t overshadow the superb outcomes the Argentinian produced.

Colapinto’s spectacular early races since stepping in for Logan Sargeant in Monza turned heads within the paddock, they usually additionally yielded Williams 5 necessary factors over three race weekends, which regarded essential on the time earlier than the workforce was lastly left behind by its midfield rivals.

Colapinto’s kind, composed perspective and fast adaptation to the calls for of F1 even made Red Bull consider making a move for the 21-year-old because it weighed up its driver choices for 2025.

However as swiftly because the Argentine appeared on Purple Bull’s radar, a spate of expensive crashes in Brazil and Las Vegas had been fast to place Christian Horner and Helmut Marko off once more, with the pair turning in direction of their very own driver pool as an alternative.

In accordance with Albon, it’s harsh to simply choose Colapinto on the tougher second half of his nine-race Williams cameo, as its FW46 additionally grew to become tougher to drive and the workforce was having to struggle more durable and more durable to maintain up with the competitors.

When requested if Colapinto’s crashes have overshadowed his season, Albon replied: “I hope not. I do not assume he deserves it to be.

“I believe it actually goes in tandem with the efficiency of the automobile, and it grew to become difficult on the finish of the season. It was difficult for me. I did not have a incredible finish of the season, and I do not all the time simply blame myself, so I believe the workforce is aware of how good he’s.”

Franco Colapinto, Williams Racing, Alex Albon, Williams Racing, on the drivers parade

Picture by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Photos

Albon believes the timing of Colapinto’s arrival helped him settle in as a result of round September Williams was at its greatest.

After having taken weight out of its chassis, Williams additionally launched its solely main replace package deal across the Dutch Grand Prix, earlier than it began sliding again once more in direction of the tip of the 12 months.

“When it comes to timing, I believe it was good he got here in when the automobile was at its best and presumably simpler to drive again than it’s now, on tracks that had been additionally fairly good to drive,” mentioned Albon.

“To be truthful he did an excellent job in Baku and Singapore, they usually weren’t simple tracks to drive. After which it is simply F1; I believe we have fallen again. You could possibly nonetheless get into Q2 with a mean lap whereas later you needed to do an important lap to get into Q2 and all these sort of issues. And it simply distorts barely the place it comes.

“It is simple to overpush when it is that tight and there’s no margin to be gradual or to make a mistake. Each of us went via a troublesome group of races, so I would not blame him an excessive amount of.

“Particularly Brazil, first time within the moist, that is not simple round a troublesome observe. After which clearly Vegas was simply difficult.

“He is a incredible driver. I really feel like he is proved his price in Components 1. Undoubtedly, when he joined, I underestimated simply how fast he was going to be, and I imagine we’ll see him in Components 1 sooner or later sooner or later.”