Franco Colapinto told to dial it back a ‘tenth slower’ after first F1 crash

Jacques Villeneuve has told Williams rookie Franco Colapinto to dial it back and go a “tenth slower” after he recorded his first F1 crash in Friday’s practice in Baku.

Colapinto is contesting his second F1 Grand Prix as a Williams driver having been called up to replace the axed Logan Sargeant after he racked up one crash too many with a heavy shunt in the upgraded FW46 in qualifying at Zandvoort.

Franco Colapinto suffered his first F1 crash in FP1

Team boss James Vowles announced three days later that Sargeant would be replaced by Colapinto for the final nine races of the season.

But while he impressed on his debut at Monza where he brought the car home in 12th place, he blotted his copybook on Friday when he crashed heavily in the opening practice session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Losing the rear end out of Turn 4, he slammed into the wall, damaging the left side of the FW46 before issuing a heartfelt “sorry” to the team.

Villeneuve has urged the rookie driver to slow down as he’s a bit too close to the edge.

Asked if Colapinto was trying to prove a point, the 1997 Williams F1 World Champion told Sky F1: “Maybe, maybe a lack of experience as well.

“He’s used to Formula 2 where they have little practice and straight into qualy. It’s not really the same approach. You don’t really need to work on a race set-up and learn about how to manage the fuel, the engine, everything. It’s very, very different.

“It seems like he’s been over-driving a little bit.

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“He’s quick and he drives well, but he’s a little bit on the edge that a tiny little mistake put him in the wall. He clipped the wall again in FP2 in a risky, risky corner.

“He just needs to, you know, take a little step back, a tenth slower maybe, but just to really figure out where he’s at.”

As for the Argentinian, he held up his hand after the crash and admitted it was a driver error before praising his Williams mechanics for getting his car repaired for FP2.

“The crash was a rookie mistake as I was still getting to grips with the track, and everything was new,” he said. “Taking that away, we had a good second session.

“The heroes of the day are the mechanics. They did an amazing job to repair my car in time for FP2. I’m proud of the team for all their efforts.

“I was really happy to be able to get another session under my belt to help build my confidence up. It was a small mistake but here it can cost you a lot.”

Colapinto bounced back from Friday’s troubles to finish an impressive P9 in Saturday’s final practice where he was just 0.044s slower than Alex Albon.

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