Franco Colapinto’s young career in Formula 1 hit another rough patch during last weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, as the young Williams driver endured his third brutal crash in two race weekends.
Colapinto’s high-speed incident in Q2 derailed his qualifying hopes and left his team once again scrambling to prepare a spare chassis for the race.
The financial strain of such a significant crash, coupled with the team’s ongoing struggles, made the incident all the more frustrating.
Colapinto admitted that facing Williams team boss James Vowles after his mishap was a tense moment. But while the Briton was justifiably displeased, the young Argentinean charger credited Vowles' leadership for helping him bounce back during the race.
“He wasn’t very happy, but he has been always very, very supportive,” he told the media in Las Vegas.
“I always take out of every bad moment very positive things, and it’s every time because of James, his thinking and his mentality and his way of moving forward as a team leader and as a team.
“I think I learned a lot from him, and he has been an amazing team leader for the little time that I’ve been working with him. I know how important how all this is for him, and it also is for me.”
For Colapinto, Vowles’ mindset has been a source of inspiration, particularly after back-to-back challenging weekends.
“When these things happen, when two tough weekends in a row happen like this, the mentality and the will to keep pushing forward, not giving up and always finding a solution to the problems is its strength, and always finding a positive thing in the negatives,” he explained.
“And I think that is very important, and is what is going to move this team back to the top.”
Starting from the pitlane in a spare chassis on Saturday evening, Colapinto prioritized a clean race, focusing on recovery rather than outright performance. However, his struggles were evident early on.
“The idea was to have a clean race,” he said. “I think it was not ideal after such a big crash to go straight in the race. And I wasn’t feeling so comfortable in the first stint there."
Colapinto detailed his struggles with car balance and tyre management during the opening stint.
“I was really, really struggling with the balance. I had a lot of oversteer, very difficult to manage the tyres. And just not in a good window. I think as the car kept running and the track also kept getting a bit better, it came a bit more towards us."
He admitted that his confidence needed rebuilding after the crash, making the start of the race particularly challenging.
“I think at the start of the race, I was taking a bit more margin,” he said. “It’s difficult after a crash to get back in the rhythm, going straight into a race start from the pit lane, it wasn’t what I wanted. But I think slowly, I started to get back in the pace."
While Colapinto managed a respectable recovery to 13th place, he recognized the need for further improvements.
“So I think a very difficult race to manage in terms of strategy, in terms of pit stops, of a lot graining and the degradation that we had. So we need to focus now on the next few races,” he concluded.
Despite the setback, Colapinto remains optimistic about his development and the team's progress, inspired by Vowles' steady guidance.
As the Argentinean rookie looks to find more consistency, his reflections on Las Vegas suggest a growing resilience as he learns from both his mistakes and the wisdom of those around him.
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