Colapinto to return to F1 grid 'sooner or later' – Alonso

Dec.10 (GMM) Fernando Alonso thinks Franco Colapinto will be back on the Formula 1 grid “sooner or later”.

Alonso’s own driver management company, A14 Management, has successfully brought its top protege, the new Formula 2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto, to the F1 grid for 2025 with Audi-owned Sauber.

But Alonso also has some ties with Colapinto, dating back to the young Argentine’s days in Spanish F4, when the two-time champion offered some financial backing.

The 21-year-old rookie initially impressed when he took over from Williams’ struggling Logan Sargeant mid-season, resulting in rumours Red Bull or Alpine were interested in snapping him up for 2025.

That’s because Carlos Sainz will take over Colapinto’s Williams cockpit from next year. The Ferrari refugee even got his new Williams adventure off to an early start on Monday with a run in the 2024 car for a ‘filming day’ in Abu Dhabi.

Sainz’s Williams track debut coincided with the team’s announcement that departing Ferrari sponsor Santander – a Spanish bank – will sponsor Williams with immediate effect.

As for Colapinto, the impressive start to his F1 career petered out more recently with a string of crashes. His season – and his F1 tenure for now – ended with a collision with Oscar Piastri and a mechanical DNF.

“It wasn’t the ending I was hoping for, which is a shame because I wanted to end on a positive note,” he said.

“I think we had a good pace but one way or another we weren’t able to show it,” Colapinto told DAZN.

Williams boss James Vowles said in Abu Dhabi that he has imposed a mid-December deadline for another team to snap him up for 2025.

“If Red Bull or Alpine don’t want him by mid-December, he will stay with us as reserve driver in 2025,” he is quoted as saying by Blick newspaper.

“We are still open to all discussions,” Vowles added. “Whether it’s about two, three or four years, everything has its price.”

As far as Alonso is concerned, the few incidents suffered by Colapinto in recent races should not have tarnished his reputation too much. “I think he has shown, especially in those first races, that he had no problems or mishaps.

“He showed his speed, he showed his talent,” the 43-year-old Spaniard added.

“The problem with Formula 1 is that there are only 20 seats, but I think Franco managed to show his cards and his identity, so an opportunity will come for him sooner or later.”

When asked what his next plans are, Colapinto said before departing Abu Dhabi: “The plan is to return to Argentina, spend some time with my family, and get away from all this bad luck.

“We have to keep our heads up and keep moving forward. There will probably be opportunities in the future. It was just a bad run – the bad luck we’ve had lately was crazy.

“Now we have to rest a bit and come back stronger.”