Williams team principal James Vowles doubts that the team’s line-up would have been strengthened by introducing Franco Colapinto earlier in the season, despite the Argentinian’s strong performances since his promotion into Formula 1.
Colapinto was selected to replace Logan Sargeant after the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August; the move coinciding with car upgrades that Williams believed would give it a chance of points on a regular basis. The Argentinian driver duly delivered in just his second start when he was classified eighth in Azerbaijan, and has finished inside the top 12 in the other two starts he has made to date.
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Sargeant failed to score at all this year before leaving the team, but Vowles doubts there would have been any benefit to introducing Colapinto earlier.
“It’s an interesting question, because in part a lot of what we were doing with him behind the scenes is developing him for this opportunity,” he said.
“So Silverstone was one of the first times he got into the car and he’d made a step clearly from where we were in Abu Dhabi the previous year. He made some steps across the winter. He’d made some steps in Formula 2.
“If we’d done this at the beginning of the year, I don’t think you’d see the Franco you have today. And there’s quite a bit of preparation that we’ve been doing in the simulator and otherwise to get him to the region where he is now.
“In terms of that regret, making a decision to take a driver out is one of the hardest things you can do in my position. I had to make sure it was abundantly clear it was the right place. And for me, at the point where we upgraded the car and we’ve delivered performance with it, where it can score points, that’s the right line in the sand. So from that perspective, I’m content.”
Vowles also paid tribute to Colapinto’s composure as he adapts to his mid-season promotion.
“It’s always hard to describe what happens to these elite athletes when you step up into Formula 1,” he said. “It’s a completely different world and the pressure mounts exponentially, and he takes it all in his stride.
“You can hear over the radio, just listen to his voice. He’s just incredibly calm and collected and just wants more information, more information. So it’s a sign of a really good individual that’s able to cope with what’s happening.”