Q: I think Williams deciding to get rid of Logan Sargeant is understandable, but putting a rookie in this Williams when there is no potential for a full-time drive next year is unconscionable. I think the thing to do here would be to run somebody who’s a third/sim driver who has some F1 experience.
From what I’ve read, Colapinto has 37-40 points from results and only qualifies for a superlicence because he has 3 additional points for doing FP1 sessions and not getting a penalty in last year’s F3 season.
What is the upside for Williams and for Colapinto here?
Will from Indy
CM: Colapinto isn’t as far off being the sort of driver you were thinking of, as he’s done plenty of simulator work for Williams and drove in FP1. That was one reason Williams picked him, because of his knowledge and experience of the team and the current car compared to other options.
Another reason is he’s a Williams Academy driver, so it fast-tracks his development but also tells Williams all it needs to know about his potential. It knew it was splitting from Sargeant anyway, but if Colapinto does a good job he’ll become reserve driver, and if not then the team will be able to see if he’s got the potential to keep investing in.
For Colapinto, it’s a real shop window moment, where he can try to impress Williams but also even put himself in the frame for the vacancy at Stake, because F2 drivers including Gabriel Bortoleto are also being considered there.
And finally, it’s lucrative for Williams with the sponsors it has signed off the back of Colapinto’s promotion. Two Argentinian brands — Globant and Mercado Libre — have already joined as partners after Colapinto was given the drive, and all other things being relatively equal, that’s always a bonus that teams will lean towards.
Q: Is Ferrari compensating Carlos Sainz for breaking his current contract, or was he going to be a free agent in 2025 anyway? If the former, any idea how much Carlos is getting from them?
Chris Pericak, Charlottesville, VA
CM: There was no break in contract. Carlos was out of contract at the end of 2024 so he was a free agent anyway, and Ferrari simply chose not to offer him a new deal and sign Lewis Hamilton for 2025 onwards instead. Carlos was free to move anywhere next year.
Q: Will we see drivers from the NASCAR Mexico Series in the Mexico Cup Series race?
Chris Fiegler, Latham, NY
KELLY CRANDALL: It’s far too early to see how that is going to play out, but I would expect interest will be high for that race for many drivers — Mexico Series and otherwise. However, I’m not sure how many available seats, if any, there would be to slot them into the grid.
THE FINAL WORD
From Robin Miller’s Mailbag, September 4, 2013
Q: I’m starting to be disappointed in watching IndyCar. Not the product, or the races themselves, but the rules, whining, bitching and complaining. I’ve never heard so much whining from every driver on the grid. It’s getting old, and I wonder how these drivers would cope if they were racing in the days of CART in the early 1990s. I’m sorry, but that “avoidable contact” rule needs to be thrown out. Besides, what really constitutes avoidable contact? It’s racing, it’s going to happen. So what you got punted, isn’t that what all the great IndyCar drivers of the past are famous for? The Chrome Horn? I’m not just talking Paul Tracy, but Emerson Fittipaldi, Al Unser Jr. Michael Andretti, these and other “named” drivers have all been guilty of “avoidable contact” and there was never a punishment. (Watch Cleveland 1995 for an example.)
I’m still trying to figure out the big deal with Dixon at Sonoma. He hit a pit crew man; you can’t do that, it’s in the rulebook. Maybe I am old school, but I hardly saw Wally Dallenbach on TV or his name even mentioned in the broadcast when he ran the show in CART. It just seems like there is too much focus on race control than the race itself. Let them settle it on the racetrack. Was Baltimore a fiasco? I’m not so sure. I enjoyed the race. Come on people, it’s a street race; you are going to have pile-ups, backups, and a lot of contact in those close quarters. What are people expecting? NASCAR thrives on chaos, and it brings people to the track.
I’m very disappointed that there isn’t another race for a month, because emotions are high and again IndyCar fails to capitalize on it. IndyCar is a great product, let race control do its job and stop questioning everything. I’d like to see Dixon fined for calling Beaux Barfield an idiot. Wasn’t Paul Tracy fined for calling Chris Kneifel an a** clown? IndyCar and Beaux Barfield need to take control of the show, and if the drivers don’t like it, go somewhere else to race, or pull up your panties, climb in the cockpit, shut up and go racing.
Kris Branch, Ocala, FL
ROBIN MILLER: You’ve hit on all my hot buttons. The bitching and moaning is out of control. Unavoidable contact is the most objectionable and senseless rule in street racing. Street racing is like indoor midget racing; there’s always going to be contact. The greats of the 1960s and ’70s didn’t use the Chrome Horn because it was way too dangerous, the cars weren’t safe, the tracks weren’t safe and there was no such thing as a street race. Nobody in the ’60s had a clue about who was the USAC chief steward (it wasn’t Harlan Fengler, he was Indy only). Dallenbach did a good job and I feel bad for criticizing him unfairly a couple times.
The chief steward’s job is thankless and the people screaming for Barfield’s head are the same ones who backed Brian Barnhart and then wanted him beheaded. It’s just IndyCar’s luck that we’ve got to wait a month before the next race and it sucks. But hey, Little E’s going to make The Chase so life’s not all bad.