Williams driver Alexander Albon praises his new teammate Franco Colapinto for coming in strong and helping the team by scoring important points. The Argentinian took over Logan Sargeant’s seat from the Italian Grand Prix in Monza.
On his first race, the 21-year-old finished 12th, only three places behind Albon. At Baku, Colapinto scored his first four career points after an excellent performance all weekend. In Singapore, he missed out on the Top 10 as Williams let him down on strategy, as he had been comfortably running ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez.
Recently Albon was asked about Colapinto and if he gave him more trouble than Sargeant.
“Trouble is not the right word. I think he’s come in strong, and he’s helped the team. As a team, that’s what we need. We need to score points, we need to fight for the championship.
“He’s been contributing massively, his pace has been strong straight away, and that’s great for us. We need that. Especially the prize money and everything that comes with it is really important for us.”
Albon was then asked if he is surprised by Colapinto fitting in so well and performing from the get-go. The Williams junior had an FP1 outing for the team at Silverstone this year, finishing within 0.4s of the Thai and impressing many.
“No, not too much. He was strong in Abu Dhabi test last year, he was strong in the Silverstone test in FP1. We knew his pace was already immediately there,” Albon said.
“I’d say the biggest thing is more his approach to a race weekend has been very strong. It’s not easy to jump into the FP1s, 2s, finding your feet, and dealing with everything else that goes along with FP1. But he’s been able to manage that really well, and that’s helped him a lot. I’m feeling comfortable.”
Finally getting asked on Colapinto’s driving style, Albon answered: “Very similar, I’d say. I think maybe more similar than Logan and I.”
Colapinto is one of the drivers who could get a full-time F1 seat next year. The only vacant seat outside of RB is at Sauber, who become an Audi works team in 2026. Sauber already signed Haas driver Nico Hülkenberg.
Next to Colapinto, F2 rookie Gabriel Bortoleto, and former Haas driver Mick Schumacher are on the list. Valtteri Bottas could get another chance, too.
