Williams rookie Franco Colapinto delivered a remarkable performance in Saturday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying, the young Argentine driver securing a spot in the top-ten shootout in only his second race in F1.
For the 21-year-old, it was a veritable “dream come true” that will see him line up ninth on Sunday’s grid in Baku.
Colapinto was drafted in by Williams at the Italian Grand Prix to replace the struggling Logan Sargeant for the remainder of the 2024 season.
The young man from Buenos Aires acquitted himself well at Monza, crossing the checkered flag a creditable 12th following a solid race. However, his opening day of running in Baku was marked by a mistake and a crash that warned him of the pitfalls of the treacherous street circuit.
Despite the pressure, Colapinto didn’t put a foot wrong in qualifying although he admitted that it had been a challenging session.
"It was difficult, but you know, more difficult than it was going to be if I couldn't do FP2, and luckily, the boys in the garage did an amazing job too," he said as he expressed his immense gratitude to his Williams crews who had pulled out the stops to repair his car in time for FP2 on Friday.
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"They didn't even have lunch but they were working flat out to put my car out in FP2. And after they did that they gave me a big confidence boost and a lot of energy to try and achieve a good result for them, for the effort that they have been doing this year.
"It was nice today to give them back a little bit of what they gave me. So I'm very happy about it.
“Of course, it's still a long way to go but it's always an important moment for you to be in Q3. I even did very good laps. Every lap was on it and I just can't wait for tomorrow.
Franco reflects on a successful day in Baku
Tomorrow, we fight for points
— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) September 14, 2024
"I'm looking forward to tomorrow…it's a short straight until T1, but I am very excited. It's an amazing moment, my first Q3, and I am very happy about it, to be honest. It's the moment every driver dreams of."
Williams enjoyed a strong day overall, with Alex Albon qualifying tenth, although the Anglo-Thai racer was robbed of an opportunity to improve his position when he missed out on a final hot lap in Q3 due to a cooling fan that was inadvertently left attached to his car.
"It's a very important moment for Williams, it's for me a dream come true,” Colapinto added. “After yesterday was going to be tough, but we did a very good comeback, so we're happy," he said.
"I achieved it in my second weekend in F1, so I can't be any more happy. It was a very good session. I think we put the laps in. Every time I had to go out, we did a very good job as a team.
"Of course, I would have been a little bit happy to finish in front of Aston, maybe, but we did a little step on the set-up to see what we can do if we could gain a little bit more for the last run on the new tyres.
“But it didn't really work out, the tyres, the rear stayed alive for the whole lap but I think the team did an amazing job to put the two cars in Q3.”
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