Albon: Accidents should not impact Colapinto’s Williams F1 tenure

Williams Driver Alex Albon thinks Franco Colapinto’s The difficult final Formula 1 race with the team should not overshadow the excellent results produced by the Argentine.

Colapinto’s impressive early run since stepping into the logan sergeant In Monza Everyone in the paddock turned heads, and it also gave Williams five points in three race weekends, which seemed vital at the time, before the team ultimately fell behind their midfield rivals.

Colapinto’s form, composed attitude and quick adaptation to the demands of F1 also paid off Red Bull are considering a move for the 21-year-old As it considered its driver options for 2025.

But just as quickly as the Argentine appeared on Red Bull’s radar, a series of costly crashes in Brazil and Las Vegas again ruled out Christian Horner and Helmut Marko, with the pair turning to their own driver pool instead.

According to Albon, it is harsh to judge Colapinto on the basis of the more difficult second half of his nine-race Williams cameo, as its FW46 also became more difficult to drive and the team had to fight more hard to remain competitive. Had been. ,

When asked if Colapinto’s accidents had an impact on his season, Albon replied: “I hope not. I don’t think he deserves it.

“I think it really coincided with the performance of the car, and at the end of the season it became difficult. It was difficult for me. The end of the season was not great for me, and I don’t always do that just myself. “, so I think the team knows how good he is.”

Albon believes the timing of Colapinto’s arrival helped him settle in as Williams was at his best around September.

After shedding weight from its chassis, Williams also introduced its only major update package around the Dutch Grand Prix, before it began to slide again towards the end of the year.

“In terms of timing, I think it was perfect that it came when the car was at its most competitive level and it was probably easier to drive it back then than it is now, on tracks that were nice enough to drive. ,” Albon said.

“To be honest they did a great job in Baku and Singapore, and they weren’t easy tracks to drive on. And then it’s just F1; I think we’ve fallen behind. You still get the average lap time. You can get to Q2 with it whereas later you had to take a big detour to get to Q2 and all that kind of stuff and it gets a little distorted where it comes.

“It’s easy to push forward when the conditions are so tight and there’s no room to slow down or make mistakes. We’ve both been through a tough group of races, so I wouldn’t blame him too much.

“Especially Brazil, the first time in the wet, on a hard track it’s not easy. And then obviously Vegas was absolutely difficult.

“He is a fantastic driver. I think he has proven his worth in Formula 1. Of course, when he joined, I underestimated how fast he would be, and I believe we can see him in Formula 1. Will see the future sometime in 1.”