It’s relatively rare for World Championship teams to make changes mid-season and not unnecessarily, but Williams Racing boss James Vowles appears to have realised he has no choice.
So Logan Sargent is fired and the young Argentinian driver Franco Colapinto makes his Formula 1 debut this weekend.
Sargent spent 36 races as part of the British team, during which time he only scored one point, but crashed cars more than once, and quite seriously. This has happened twice this season: in Japan and last weekend during Saturday practice at Zandvoort.
The accident was very serious, while the FW46 was equipped with a series of new aerodynamics, and it was extremely important for the team to evaluate their effectiveness. But a mistake made by Sargent led to all this work falling solely on the shoulders of Alex Albon.
This was the last straw that broke the patience of the team management. Vowles already started negotiations with other teams on Saturday afternoon about the possibility of inviting one of their reserve drivers to replace Sargent at Monza.
The situation was not the easiest, because Williams needs such a driver only until the end of the season, ie only 9 Grands Prix, because next year Carlos Sainz will become Albon’s new teammate.
According to the championship’s official website, Vowles tried to negotiate with Christian Horner to use Liam Lawson’s services, but Red Bull is not ready to meet each other halfway. Among other things, we cannot rule out a scenario in which they need the New Zealander himself in the remaining races of the season.
By the way, the rumors that Williams also considered Mick Schumacher are not true. In this urgent situation, there was certainly no talk of him, especially since he will compete for the Alpine team at the American round of the WEC in Austin next weekend.
And then Vowles decided to bet on Colapinto, a member of the Williams youth programme who had already spent Friday practice behind the wheel of the FW46 at Silverstone this year.
The 21-year-old Argentine will spend his first season in Formula 2 in 2024, with one win and a few more podiums to his name. In the individual standings, he is in 6th place and Williams highly values his potential. At the same time, the team needs a driver who can fully exploit the potential of the modernized car and earn points, which will allow Williams to fight for 8th place in the constructors’ championship in the confrontation with Alpine.
Yesterday Colapinto arrived at Williams’ base in Grove to work on the simulator, and today he is due to fly to Italy and urgently begin preparations for his Formula 1 debut.
The task ahead of him is extremely difficult, but the team decided to take the risk, because they believed in Franco’s ability to learn and adapt quickly. The extent to which this choice was justified will partly become apparent next weekend, although it is clear that it is better to refrain from predictions for the time being.
How long will Colapinto lose to the experienced Alex Albon? Will this difference in lap times gradually decrease? Will he be able to earn something in the remaining nine races? Will he at least have fewer accidents than Sargent? There are many questions, but both we and Williams will get answers towards the end of the season.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
