“I feel like I’m getting closer to reaching Formula 1. It’s a dream I’ve had since I was a kid.” With those words, Argentine Franco Colapinto described the sporting desire that he continues to pursue.
The expectation that had been generated by the press conference that he was going to give at the headquarters of the Argentine Automobile Club (ACA) was enormous, mainly due to the announcement that he would get even closer to the highest category of motorsport.
The followers of the boy born in Pilar gathered at the door of the building, and nearly 700 people remained in the rain while the meeting with the press took place, so that they could later have a brief contact with their idol. Colapinto went out to the first floor balcony and greeted the public, who praised him like a rock star.
“This year was unforgettable. Being part of the Williams Academy was impressive, and because of the team and because of my family I am here now,” said the protagonist. And he added: “I was very consistent this year, and although I made some mistakes, I was able to maximize what I and the entire team had to experience.”
Colapinto greets his followers from the balcony. Image: Télam
Colapinto raced in International Formula 3 in 2023, and finished fourth in the championship. “Fourth place does not reflect the year we had, I think we deserved second place, but next year we are going for more,” he said.
The 20-year-old clarified that he could not confirm it, but that the mission is to be able to take a place in Formula 2 in 2024. “Williams is going to decide what happens next year, but I am going to do the Formula 2 race in Abu Dhabi, the last of this season,” he noted. The competition is scheduled for November 26.
The lack of support from his own country was one of the highlights of his story: “It hurt me not to have the support of Argentina between 2019 and 2020. Luckily now there are companies that trust us a lot like Visit Argentina and Globant, which are making the economic effort to continue growing”.
The pilot was part of a table that also included his managers, the Spanish María Catarineu and the Englishman Jamie Campbell, and the president of the ACA Jorge Rosales. “Continuing in Formula 3 – Colapinto estimated – would not have been positive. It seems to me that we are about to take the leap.”
The pilot also highlighted the management of the record composer and Disc-Jockey called Bizarrap, who brought them contacts and allowed them to “have new meetings.” The budgets to compete in Formula 2 are very high, and for that reason the team hopes that everything will be resolved favorably. In this way, the Argentine will be closer to his childhood desire, which led him to go to Italy at the age of 14 to fulfill it.
2023-10-04 01:41:16
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