After a valiant effort in his second FIA Formula 3 season that saw him finish fourth in the drivers’ standings, Franco Colapinto has his eyes on finding a spot on the FIA Formula 2 grid in 2024. However, the Williams Academy driver is currently struggling to find the budget to secure a spot on the rung of the junior single-seaters ladder closest to Formula 1. Feeder Series had the chance to exclusively interview the 20-year-old about this year’s F3 campaign, his future and the heartwarming support from his Argentinian fans.

By Daniele Spadi

In his rookie campaign, Colapinto took two sprint race wins and three additional podiums to finish ninth in the championship standings with Van Amersfoort Racing. He was by far their lead driver, scoring 76 of the 91 points that the Dutch team earned during the season. For his second year in the series, Colapinto switched to the other Formula 3 team based in the Netherlands: MP Motorsport. 

“To be back with all of them was really nice,” he told Feeder Series with a big smile on his face. The 20-year-old is no stranger to the Dutch outfit, as he previously raced with them in the 2020 Formula Renault Eurocup and the 2021 FRECA seasons.

“It’s a team that has given me a lot of opportunities, and of course, I’m super grateful to be back working with them, they are an amazing family. They are just a great group of people, very professional and with a lot of talent, as well. I really enjoyed working again with them this year.”

The Argentinian was very clear at the start of the season, saying that the title was his goal right from the beginning, and he felt as though his chances were better with the team he’s raced with through many steps of his young career.

“It was a great boost for my championship [campaign], just trying to enjoy the full year and all the race weeks that we’ve had together,” he said. “The team also had a decent result in the teams’ championship, so I’m just happy for that.”

A promising season

Colapinto immediately got up to speed with his old team, finishing on the podium in the opening race of the season. With his goal being the drivers’ title, he had to take every opportunity coming his way every single race weekend. This led to a very consistent year, as the Argentinian driver missed out on points-paying positions on just four occasions. 

However, with no feature race wins to his name and a few DNFs, including a disqualification in Australia that stripped him of a sprint race win due to a technical infringement, the Williams Academy driver struggled to put up a fight against Trident Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto, who clinched the title after a chaotic qualifying session in Monza. 

“The results were good, of course we had the goal of winning the championship at the beginning of the year, but it wasn’t like that,” Colapinto said.

Though the title was out of the picture, the fight for second place in the championship was still open. Colapinto was right behind the already-crowned champion Bortoleto in the standings coming into the final feature race of his 2023 campaign, but a lap one incident saw him fall to fourth come the end of the season. 

“I guess the second place in the championship, we deserved it, but in the last race we had a little bit of contact that broke my suspension in the front, and I just had to retire. We finished fourth, and [despite] everything that happened during the year it was a good year for us, a few wins, of course, a lot of podiums.”

Ultimately, the 20-year-old had no hard feelings for what happened during the feature race in Italy. “Things like what happened in the last race in Monza can happen, and it’s a bit unfortunate for us, but even then, it’s been a good year and I’m happy with the results.”

The season was long and full of twists, but Colapinto seemed to always be up to speed no matter the track or the conditions he found himself in. Being in his second F3 season, the Argentinian could approach many of this year’s tracks with the experience he had gained in 2022. 

“I always like to go to Italy,” Colapinto said when reflecting on his favorite race venue of the season. “It’s getting quite usual in our calendar, and I always enjoy being there so, so much because it reminds me of Argentina, the people and the fans. The tifosi are always really nice. 

“But this year, I really enjoyed to go to Australia for the first time. It was a new track and a new place to go to for everyone, a track that was also really really fast and really cool to drive on…the fans were amazing as well, all the people cheering for the drivers was really nice to see, there were a lot of people there.”

A year of improvements

Compared to his maiden F3 season, Colapinto did not collect more silverware in 2023, as he won two races and finished on the podium three additional times, just like in 2022. However, he leapt from ninth to fourth in the championship, and he had a clear reason as to why that was the case. 

“I think in the consistency throughout the rounds,” he told Feeder Series when asked about his improvements from one season to the other. “I was one of the only drivers to qualify every weekend in the top twelve, and I scored points in almost every race apart from those two DNFs that I had and a mistake I did at the Red Bull Ring.

“Of course, the result at the end of the year, we were hoping for a bit more, but it’s racing. In the end, we expected a bit more at times, but I think we were really really consistent. This is one of the keys of Formula 3, and we achieved all the goals that the team had set at the beginning of the year, so that was always the main thing.”

With only nine rounds on the calendar following Imola’s cancellation due to the extreme weather conditions that hit Italy through the month of May, even a single misstep could mean the end of a driver’s hopes and dreams for the whole season, especially with such a stacked grid. However, Colapinto confidently stated that he had no regrets in regards to both the team’s and his efforts. 

“I’m happy with the season that we’ve had, and we executed well what we wanted. We had moments of ups and downs. I would have loved to have a better weekend in Melbourne, the team was super strong and a bit above the others and we left the weekend with 0 points. But after that, we could jump back up [the standings] quite fast and be stronger than before, so I’m happy with how we recovered from a difficult start to the season.”

Tough times ahead?

With a resumé like his, Colapinto could, and arguably should, be granted the opportunity to step up to F2, with many of his colleagues from the F3 class of 2023 eyeing the same move. However, the Argentinian opened up about the challenging financial situation he finds himself in at this point of the season.

“The reality is, it’s always difficult with the budget, [even] more for me,” he told Feeder Series. “Coming from South America, there is no money coming from my family, of course, and then to get the sponsors there is always difficult.

“The economic situation of Argentina is really tricky now with some elections going on in October, so it’s tricky to get the money for next season. We are working on it, my team is helping me a lot. I know that they are working super super hard to get me a seat, but, of course, it’s really tricky with the low budget that we have, but we are giving our best to try and find something.”

With October edging closer, next year’s F2 grid is starting to take shape, as many deals have already been signed behind the scenes and very few seats are left open. “Of course, there is not a lot of time left to decide because all the seats are almost signed, but I still have some hopes that we can get a seat for next year and have a good year in F2.”

Does this put more pressure on the Argentine’s shoulders? 

“It’s been every year like this, to be honest. I think at the end you get used to it,” he said. “I never really knew who I was going to race for in December or January, so it’s nothing different to other years. Of course it’s a stressful part of the year for everyone who wants me to succeed and who supports me, ‘cause at the end it’s a tricky thing to struggle with the budget. We really don’t have the money and to get the budget for F2, which is so, so high, is really difficult.”

Despite being on the back foot during this crucial part of the year, Colapinto still has faith in his team to pull through. “My managers are doing an amazing job, a lot of people from Argentina are supporting, all the fans have gone crazy on social media to try and get support from different brands…I hope it ends up well for me, for everyone who supports me, for my managers who work so hard for it, for my family of course, they have always been there, and the fans who really want to see me in F2 next year.”

With fewer hopes to step up to F2 than expected, the Williams Academy Driver could find himself looking at other championships in the near future. He is no stranger to endurance racing, as he competed in the 2021 European Le Mans Series with G-Drive in the LMP2 class, taking a class win at Paul Ricard and finishing on the podium at the Red Bull Ring. 

Though a return to endurance racing could be an option, the Argentine is fully focused on getting a seat on the F2 grid. “I’m not really working on that. Of course there are other options and a lot of championships, but our goal is really to go to F2, but if it doesn’t work out, of course there are a lot of other championships that we can go to.”

Unconditional support from home

Though the 20-year-old has shown his talent on multiple occasions across the last two years, he is also known for his incredible fanbase, which is among the most passionate, and loudest in the entire support paddock. Over the last couple of weeks, his fans have taken social media by storm by sharing positive messages and trying to get in contact with big sponsors themselves in order to try and get their favorite driver an F2 seat for next year. 

“It’s amazing,” Colapinto said when asked about the support from his fans. “There are so many Argentinian fans everywhere, even coming to the races, but [also the] ones watching the races from Argentina and supporting me, it’s unbelievable. They are the best fans by far, the support I’m getting is unreal.”

The 20-year-old also highlighted that their support has been critical throughout the whole year, in both positive and negative times. “I’m really happy to have them behind my back and receive all this support, it’s an amazing thing, and it gives you a big boost to come into the weekends for the races. At the end, it’s a really nice thing to have, even when things don’t go right they’re always there. It’s a thing I’ve always appreciated, and I’m super thankful for that.”

Talking to the Williams Academy driver, the love for his home country was immediately recognisable. He spoke of it with pride, and he fully understood the importance of the support he has received throughout his journey.

He also opened up about being this far away from home to follow his dreams – something he has learned to live with while racing in Europe. “It’s always difficult,” he admitted, “but you get used to it with the years. When everything goes well, it’s quite easy, but when things don’t go quite right you want some support from your family, maybe you feel the need a bit more. But at the end of the day, you just get used to it.”

Historically, Argentinian fans are among the most passionate you will find, no matter the sport. However, since no driver from their country has raced in Formula 1 since Gastón Mazzacane in the 2001 San Marino Grand Prix, fans solely rely on Colapinto, the only Argentinian driver in the upper rungs of the FIA junior single-seaters ladder, to change that.

Does this support come with a cost, then? 

“Not really,” he admitted. “I’ve been working on myself, and of course trying to give the maximum I can. When I feel that I’m delivering good performances, there is no reason to look at that. If you give your best, at the end [of the day] it is what it is.

“Of course that would be amazing, that an Argentinian gets to F1. It’s a really long way and a really long journey, but I think it’s going in the right direction. It would be amazing to have an Argentinian in F1m for the fans, for the people who love the sport in the country, but I don’t feel pressure about it. It’s been a lot of years representing Argentina here in Europe, and it’s been going quite well.”

In fact, Colapinto opened up about the inspiring figures that fuel his dream of making it to the pinnacle of motorsport, and it’s no surprise to see the names of two very successful Formula 1 drivers among them. 

“There are a lot of people that I look up to in motorsport. Of course from my home country, [Carlos] Reutemann and [Juan Manuel] Fangio are the ones that took me on the way of motorsport and the ones I grew up with that were really successful in Formula 1.

“I look up to them and I try to follow them in what they have done, but they were super successful, and it’s going to be difficult to do that, but I want to do that for every Argentinian fan and for the people who support me.”

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency