Franco Colapinto impressed Formula 1 paddock In Williams in replacement of Logan Sargeant since mid-season, there has been no shortage of voices calling for it to remain on the 2025 grid.
But without a place in Grove's team, since they signed Carlos Sainz next to Alex Albonthe team decided to help the Argentinian find a place elsewhere.
In recent weeks, rumors linking him to Red Bull Racing have increased, as pressure continues to mount on Sergio Perez (who has a contract through 2025), while the team's junior program remains disjointed.
So… would signing Colapinto to Red Bull really work? Our editors give their opinion.
Why Colapinto's partnership with Verstappen isn't as far-fetched as it seems – by Alex Kalinauckas
What an experience Franco Colapinto has had in less than three months in Formula 1. He went from relative obscurity in Formula 2 to Formula 1. From relative obscurity in Formula 2, to being a candidate to be a teammate of Max Verstappen at Red Bull in 2025. Such a bold move might seem like the typical of Red Bull burning a driver, but it's not as far-fetched as it seems.
First, Red Bull very seriously considered signing. This is something that the team manager promotes, Christian Hornerand not the advisor, Helmut Markowho naturally wants the chosen one to be Liam Lawson for the benefit of the Red Bull Junior team.
But this once well-oiled “machine” is now stuck to the point of being clearly broken. Incorporating Colapinto into the dome would allow it to be repaired in time, and Lawson would continue to have the opportunity to shine in F1.
A major problem for Red Bull wanting to sign Colapinto for one of its teams is Williams' asking price. Rumors put him at $20 million, and Red Bull (nor Williams) are reportedly not interested in a loan deal for the Argentine.
Colapinto has generated a lot of support in South America
But if an agreement is reached, the benefits are considerable for Red Bull.
He already faces a loss of around $20 million in prize money for his 2024 season, as he is on track to finish third in this year's constructors' championship thanks in large part to Sergio Pirez being unable to get close enough to Verstappen, instead. to be champion as he did in 2022 and 2023. Colapinto also brings sponsors, as Williams is currently enjoying huge success in Latin America.
At the Mexican GP, this editor saw journalists from that market's media placed in multiple rows every time Colapinto spoke. Moreover, in his country of origin . However, so far no formal consultation has been made with Formula 1 management regarding a possible gap in the calendar…
If neither Lawson nor Colapinto have a historical past with Verstappen which allows us to imagine that they could make the Dutchman uncomfortable, there are no big differences between them in pure speed either. Regarding his differences with his current teammates, Albon is on average 0.179s faster than Colapinto in qualifying (based only on dry sessions, and setting the limit at the round in which either drivers are eliminated) and Yuki Tsunoda he is only 0.034 seconds ahead of Lawson by the same metric.
And it's not clear that either made Pérez better. But this is where the mental toughness of pilots. This is why Red Bull will not promote Tsunoda from R.B.: He doesn't think he can handle the demands of being a teammate of a true F1 great.
In the six Grands Prix he has competed in so far, Colapinto has shown he can do it with much less preparation, even compared to Lawson. He went from slightly shaking in front of the media to have a somewhat vain presence in the paddock, which does not mean that it is negative. However, the -including an uncomfortable one behind the safety car- cannot be repeated. Yes, the pressure has eased somewhat, given that technically all the seats for 2025 are already occupied, but he's still handling the F1 pressure cooker remarkably well.
This is the key for Red Bull. All he needs is a teammate who comes close to Verstappen – say, with an average difference like the one Colapinto has with Albon – and who is able to bear the burden of the other's incessant pressure next to the garage and, in theory, passed all the time. From what he's shown so far, Colapinto might just be the answer to a problem that Red Bull has struggled to solve since Daniel Ricciardo He left in 2018.
Colapinto put in some great performances that caught the attention of Red Bull
Ignoring the hype, Colapinto isn't ready for Red Bull…yet – by Oleg Karpov
Advertising is a curious thing. This is great because it can open many doors. But when it disappears, they tend to close just as quickly.
The fact that the Red Bull team boss is thinking of the Argentinian for 2025 says a lot about the uproar he has caused in the paddock since his sudden and unexpected arrival on the F1 grid at Monza.
Because it's not just Colapinto who arrived in F1, it's the whole country with him in the form of stickers on Williams cars, an avalanche of Argentine fans invading Sao Paulo and Williams' channels on social networks, and Argentinian politicians are suddenly talking about F1. Politicians wouldn't be politicians if they didn't try to jump on the publicity bandwagon, would they?
This constant noise around Colapinto is ideal for everyone. For Williams, for F1 itself… and he can still do a lot of good for any team that recruits him for 2025.
But if Franco joins Red Bull, he'll be the one sharing a garage with Max Verstappen, not fans or politicians (although stickers may follow), and there's simply no evidence he's ready for one of the hardest jobs in the world. F1. It's not even that it's too early for Colapinto to move into one of the best cars on the grid, although that's probably a valid argument too, there just isn't enough objective data to show that he is up to such a task.
From what we've seen from Colapinto so far, it's safe to say he's a better match for Alex Albon than Logan Sargeant. It's also worth noting that Williams also improved in the second half of the championship, but reaching Q3 and scoring his first points in Baku was certainly impressive. Being ahead of Albon in the standings also contributed to the general enthusiasm, but there was also the “hidden” fact that Albon did not make his final lap due to a team error.
The weekend in Singapore was also satisfying and scoring points in Austin is certainly worth noting. But does that mean she's ready for a cutting-edge car? Of course not. That's probably enough to say he's proven he's good enough to be in F1. But that's all. At least for now…
Colapinto showed flashes of speed, but also suffered some setbacks.
The circumstances of his debut, getting into the car mid-season, make the overall impression better, although he is not the first F1 rookie to have done well recently when he was thrown into the sea to swim, and we should probably stop being so surprised by how the new generation of pilots are tackling these challenges.
Nowadays, this is usually the period that says the most. There was a lot of hype around Yuki Tsunoda after his first race in Bahrain, and the spectacular performance of Nyck de Vries at Monza in 2022 earned him praise over the following months, before the threshing stopping and reversing course after just a few races in 2023.
Colapinto still has a lot to prove. There is now less talk about the qualifying margins against Albon in Italy and Mexico. Also about accidents. But that's the nature of today's media landscape, where Sargeant would have been eaten alive for crashing during a safety car and yet for Colapinto, still learning in F1, there is still has excuses.
The fact that Horner is considering hiring Colapinto probably says more about the scale of Red Bull's driver problem than it does about Colapinto's F1 debut. If it was just for sporting reasons, Horner would probably head to Williams Hospitality to speak to James Vowles about another driver, be it Carlos Sainz or even Albon. Because if those in the Verstappen camp really cannot stand the idea of repeating what was experienced at Toro Rosso in 2015 with Sainz, it is surely Albon who should be higher on the list of drivers that Horner wants to buy from Williams . He's been in the team before, he knows what it's like to be alongside Verstappen, but now he has a lot more experience.
But F1 isn't always about performance. There are likely other reasons why Colapinto is on Horner's radar. And there's a good chance he could help Red Bull keep their Latin American sponsors happy in case they get rid of Sergio Pérez. But whether he can be an asset from a sporting perspective is a question that cannot be answered at the moment.
Colapinto could be a future superstar. The fact is that at present there is little evidence to support this claim.
Will Colapinto say goodbye to F1 at the end of the year?
