Franco Colapinto races for Williams since the Italian Grand Prix. The Argentinian impressed with his performance and scored points for the Grove based team. Many say he deserves a seat for the 2025 season. The last vacant seat is at Kick Sauber.
Colapinto began this year in Formula 2 with MP Motorsport. He already had some experience in the series through his two starts for MP in the final rounds of the 2023 season. The team couldn’t provide championship-winning material to the 22-year-old driver and his teammate Dennis Hauger.
At Imola, Colapinto surprisingly won the Sprint Race; but other than that, he could only score two podium finishes. Consistency was key as he impressed in that area.
Since the beginning of 2023, Colapinto is part of the Williams Driver Academy. At the end of the season, he was given the chance to drive the team’s FW45 at the post-season Abu Dhabi test. His first participation in an official F1 session was at this year’s British Grand Prix. In the first practice session, Colapinto took over Logan Sargeant’s car to gain driving experience, and he was quick.
Following Sargeant’s heavy shunt in FP3 of the Dutch Grand Prix, Williams came to the decision to drop the American driver, who scored points only once in his 36 races for the team. He is set for an IndyCar test at The Thermal Club for Meyer Shank Racing. A pre-agreement with Prema Racing was reportedly reached, but Sargeant’s camp confirmed to RACER that he was contacted by an array of teams.
From the point when Colapinto took over from Sargeant, he delivered. In Monza, he only qualified 18th but recovered well to finish the race in 12th, three places behind teammate Alex Albon, setting a faster race lap than the Thai on the final tour.
After qualifying in 9th place in Baku, Colapinto went on to finish in 8th place, two seconds behind Albon thanks to a late VSC. He passed Nico Hülkenberg late in the Grand Prix thanks to a mistake from the German. It was another hugely impressive performance.
In Singapore, he ended up in 12th place in qualifying and in the race he just missed out on another points finish as Williams let him down on strategy as he had been comfortably running ahead of Sergio Pérez.
The performance of the last three races alone are enough evidence that Colapinto is a huge talent and that he deserves a seat in Formula 1.
A few weeks ago, Williams team principal James Vowles had the same opinion. He told Motorsport.com that Colapinto “showed the world he’s deserving of a place in Formula 1” and that “you have to let good drivers race.”
Vowles confirmed that Williams is working together with Audi – who are set to take over Sauber in 2026 – to agree on a loan deal: “We’ll see if we can find a way of working with Audi in that circumstance. That’s what I was implying for next year.”
A few days ago, it was reported that Williams and Audi discuss a possible two-year loan for the Williams junior.
This possible loan was confirmed by Vowles when speaking to the Wall Street Journal: “For transparency, we are in conversations to see if that is a route for him, where he could be on the grid with them [Sauber] for two years.”
The reason behind this is simple. In 2025, Carlos Sainz joins the team from Ferrari. The Spaniard departs Ferrari at the end of this year, as he is set to be replaced by Mercedes driver and 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. Sainz signed a multi-year deal with Williams, and will be partnered by Alex Albon. Vowles says that they have “our driver line-up cemented” for the future.
Asked again by Motorsport.com if Colapinto will be retained in the Williams family, Vowles said: “So, I won’t go into the contractual arrangements, but he will always be within the family. And that’s what you need to know, but that doesn’t mean he can’t race elsewhere.”
Can you call Colapinto a favorite for the vacant Sauber seat now? Certainly you can! He consistently outpaced the expectations of the Williams team since joining. That definitely caught the eye of many teams, also from Sauber and Audi. With discussions already underway, an agreement can be expected soon. When approached by Pit Debrief, a Sauber spokesperson declined to comment on this matter yet.
During the Singapore Grand Prix, rumors emerged that Sauber would extend the contract of Valtteri Bottas. An announcement was set for a few days after the race on the Marina Bay Circuit, but it was never officially communicated. It’s highly possible that Franco Colapinto is the reason.
Another star from Formula 2 is Gabriel Bortoleto. The Brazilian driver was linked with a move to Sauber heavily. Grande Premio reported in September that the McLaren junior received the green light to join the Swiss team. This detail would mean that Bortoleto remains part of McLaren and could move to the team in the future.
His mentor Fernando Alonso speaks highly of him: “I’ve been following Bortoleto’s career for years. This boy has what it takes to be a Grand Prix winner. Yes, he belongs in Formula 1 – and 2025 would be an ideal year to learn everything with a team. In front of and behind the scenes.”
He knows that the youngster is attractive to all F1 teams.
What about the Sauber juniors? Zane Maloney is no longer an option. He was considered for a short time period, but eventually he decided to join Lola Yamaha ABT in Formula for Season 11. Currently, Maloney races in Formula 2 and sits in 3rd place in the drivers standings. And Theo Pourchaire believes that he deserves a seat in F1. At the moment, he fulfills the role as test and reserve driver for Sauber.
Sauber is the last team to confirm its driver line-up for 2025. In April, the team officially announced Nico Hülkenberg, who leaves Haas at the end of this year. With Carlos Sainz, Sauber wanted to build its dream line-up. However, Sainz decided to join Williams.
One thing is certain: Zhou Guanyu’s time in F1 is over. The Chinese driver couldn’t impress enough and has got knocked out in Q1 on a regular basis this year. While teammate Valtteri Bottas has been in the same boat, the Finn has only lost out to the Chinese driver once in Grand Prix qualifying.
The team arrives at Austin in under two weeks time for the United States Grand Prix. In the constructors standings, Sauber is last, waiting to score its first points.
