Colapinto’s Breakthrough in Baku Catches Audi's Attention
Sep.16 - Another rookie may have entered the frame to snap up the final Formula 1 race seat for 2025.
Roger Benoit, a veteran journalist for the Swiss newspaper Blick, is urging Audi-owned Sauber against inking another contract with Valtteri Bottas.
The Finnish driver finished dead last at Baku, with Benoit slamming the 34-year-old for being "barely motivated".
"But it was a pleasure to watch the new Williams driver Franco Colapinto from the start," Benoit insisted.
Indeed, Logan Sargeant's replacement out-qualified the highly rated Alex Albon in only his second ever grand prix, before finishing P8 on Sunday.
However, 21-year-old Colapinto does not have a race seat beyond the 2024 season finale, as Carlos Sainz will be taking over his place at Williams next year.
The Argentine was asked about that by DAZN at the weekend and said of Sainz: "The truth is that I admire Carlos a lot and he got to where he is with a lot of effort.
"I know it was very difficult for him too," Colapinto added.
At the same time, he is determined to make the most of his opportunity to shine in the remaining races of the season. "It is a very important moment for me," said Colapinto.
"The confidence that James (Vowles) put in me, the opportunity he gave me, is something that I admire a lot. That he took a risk - that's the reality - of changing drivers in the middle of the season. I want to show that he made the right choice."
As for journalist Benoit, he is hoping that Audi and Sauber bosses are now adding Colapinto's name to their 2025 short-list alongside fellow rookie Gabriel Bortoleto.
"Colapinto will be on the market at the end of the season," he said, even though he is firmly contracted to Williams' junior program. "He and Bortoleto must now be the duel for the second seat at Audi-Sauber.
"Unless Red Bull releases Liam Lawson in September."
As for Colapinto, he vowed to continue to try to impress the F1 paddock.
"I hope I'm showing what I can do and that I deserve a place in Formula 1," he told DAZN on Sunday.
"I have done very little driving in a Formula 1 car, so I think finishing in the points in my second race is something very positive and very good. We need to keep working, but it's a good start."
✅ Check out more posts with related topics:
Of course, third-party individuals always have this obsession of starting speculation without a concrete foundation.
Always pure assumptions, contradictions, & too many names thrown out for any given team at a time, which has generally always annoyed me among F1 people over the years & mostly from third parties rather than the relevant ones.
I wonder who'll get mentioned next by some individual.
People should always be realistic & reasonable with their expectations or assumptions.
Whoever gets Drive ,the Audi Dream Drive , if the naysayers have there way, it wont matter who it is, because theyll be so far behind, I personally dont think they will be, Audi are no mugs and will throw everything at F1, so even a rookie ish, will be top ten, for this and next year it suits Audi, for Sauber (in name only) to be at the back then, anything will be progress, i feel for the present drivers though there reputations are being destroyed by Audis future plans
Results from the weekend just back the opinion that there are to many has beens and never beens in F1. Bottas, Stroll, Sargeant, Hulk, Magnussen ,Perez, Ricciardo and Guanyu all need to go and make way for top F2 finishers not just the ones with super rich dads.
As Stroll is sometimes faster than Alonso and Pérez sometimes faster than Max perhaps they should be added to the list? Or maybe f1 drivers should only be allowed to race in F1 for say a maximum of 10 years with a forced break of 2 years.
Maybe, as well as Ricciardo, Grosjean, Kvyat, Ericsson, Vandoorne, etc.
Really you'd keep Perez ahead of Max. Emmmm
Not instead of as well as.
You'd keep Perez, I suppose he's a great lacky. Just think they could have had Sainz if it wasn't for MV veto'ing him. Hope MV leaves RB without any proven quality driver.
The future of F1 looks bright with great young talents such as Piastri, Norris, Colapinto, Lawson, Bearman and Antonelli making their presence felt on the scene.
Time for some of the old pharts to take up a new challenge and allow the new talent to shine through in their place. Some of the older generation have entertained us well in the past with some great drives, but they have now lost their motivation and impetus.