After an impressive haul of four points in only his second F1 outing in Baku, Franco Colapinto will surely hope to keep his momentum going when the FW46 hits the Marina Bay Circuit under the dazzling floodlights. As Williams moves up the world championship table to eighth place, it’s imperative for the Grove-based team to capitalise on the race weekend to defend their position against Alpine.
Ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, Colapinto spoke at length about their expectations for the weekend and how he reset after his fantastic performance in Baku. Expressing optimism about their car performance, the 21-year-old declared that he would try to add to their points tally again on Sunday.
“A great weekend for us, really. Really exciting to see, you know, everybody being so happy there and back home that they were enjoying so, so much every moment of the weekend there in Baku.
“It’s been a very special weekend for me and of course I did enjoy a lot, but now it’s a full reset for Singapore. I think we have a car in a good position and I’m going to try to go for points again.”
At the same time, Colapinto was candid about the difficulties he expects to encounter in Singapore. The debilitating heat and humidity in the region take a huge toll even on the experienced drivers. As such, taking into account that Marina Bay is a circuit he isn’t familiar with from his junior formulae days, he anticipates a challenging weekend due to the lack of adequate preparation time. Nonetheless, the Argentine driver sounded confident and proclaimed that he is all set for the race.
“It’s a new track for me. It’s going to be a big challenge, the heat, you know, the humidity. I haven’t been doing a massive prep because I didn’t have time. Everything went very quick and I had to, you know, put the focus in other things maybe, but I feel ready and very excited for this race.”
On the topic of his post-race moment with Hamilton in Baku and what it meant to be endorsed by the seven-time world champion on social media, Colapinto admitted that it was indeed a remarkable experience for him. The F2 graduate added that their interaction in parc fermé after battling for P8 during the closing stages of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix is one of the most memorable moments of his racing career so far.
“Yeah, it was very special. I think, you know, the best moment was when I jumped out of the car and we met after the race, my first race, fighting with Lewis [Hamilton] in the racetrack and it was very special. He is, you know, a history of Formula 1, of the sport and to have the chance to, you know, interact with him, to be fighting in a race together, it was, you know, one of the best moments of my career.
“So, [I was] very happy to have met Lewis [Hamilton] on track and off track as well. He was very kind with his words and we know how polite he is with the young drivers coming in F1 and it was very nice to see and, of course, something that made me very happy.”
When asked what kind of physical training he has undergone to cope with the brutal Singapore heat and perform well at one of the season’s most gruelling races, Colapinto revealed that his training programme wasn’t exhaustive and that it involved some padel.
“Yeah, just train a bit and some padel. Most I’ve done.”
Referring to the high temperatures they encountered at the past couple of races, the Williams driver sounded fairly confident about acclimatising to the humid conditions in Singapore.
“Already we are coming from two hot races. Monza was really hot; Baku was also hot. So I’m a bit more prepared for it. It’s not that we are coming from cold races and going into Singapore that is very humid and warm. Let’s see how I react but I feel I’m going to be okay.”
In terms of whether they are confident about the performance of the FW46 on yet another street circuit after their double points finish in Baku or whether they expect the Marina Bay Circuit to be tricky for Williams as usual, Colapinto offered his assessment that the track might suit them more this weekend.
Emphasising their improved speed and stability through low-speed corners, the Argentine racer remarked that he expects the new upgrades on Albon’s car to help the team bring home a good result and set the course for further development and comprehensive upgrades for both drivers.
“Yeah, [it] might be tricky for Williams. I think it’s a track that is suiting us much more this year. The low-speed corners are looking good for us and we are really strong. Of course, Alex [Albon] has an update on the car that is going to help for sure to be a bit closer to the points and hopefully in the points. And then if that reacts well I will have it, you know, in due time.
“So I’m really happy for the team that they have been doing an amazing job to bring this update here and to have it in one of the cars. It’s going to be great to be a bit closer to the points and see what we can do. It’s my first time in Singapore and I know it will be tough but it’s a nice challenge.”
With regard to how important it is to have a clean weekend, Colapinto responded that it would be a tough challenge given the proximity of the walls and the physically taxing nature of the race. Nonetheless, he added that he intends to build on his race weekend in a progressive manner.
“Yeah, I think it is a big challenge and it’s one of the toughest races of the year. As it was Baku and the walls are very close and I need to learn the track slowly, I think we are doing that nice work and try to progressively build up the pace.
“Let’s see how we can add to the track. We know it’s going to be tough but the prep has been there so let’s see how it goes.”
