Franco Colapinto ‘next step’ being watched in possible ‘put you down’ warning

Man of the hour with the Argentinean fans, Rubens Barrichello has warned Franco Colapinto that he needs to be “at peace” with himself as one slip-up can change the tone.

Colapinto was boosted into the Williams F1 seat at the Italian Grand Prix when the 21-year-old junior driver was called up to replace ousted Logan Sargeant.

Rubens Barrichello’s warning to Franco Colapinto

What played out next was nothing short of unexpected, even from Williams team principal James Vowles.

“What I didn’t expect to happen is how quickly he’s got up to speed – I thought it would take him another few races to be there, so we’d be in the Americas before he picked up,” Vowles said.

“Where his strengths are, him personally, he can take all of this pressure, thousands of things that come at you, and just deal with it in his stride. He’s never flustered, he’s never panicked, he’s never overloaded. He’s just, ‘give me more, and I can give you more back’.”

Scoring points in two of his six starts, and thrice knocking on the top ten’s door, Colapinto has not caught the attention of rival team bosses but also the Argentinian public.

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So much so they flew, drove and then bussed their way to Sao Paulo for the Brazilian Grand Prix when a transport strike saw over 63 flights from Argentina have been cancelled.

Arriving in droves, one banner summed it up: ‘Franco, 46 million Argentinians are with you’.

“It was just amazing to see all the support I received here, those travelling fans coming to the race and creating such a joyful atmosphere,” said the Williams rookie.

Alas, he wasn’t able to deliver in Brazil as he crashed behind the Safety Car in the rain, his first blip in his short Formula 1 career.

But it is a blip that former F1 driver Barrichello has warned could see adulation turn to criticism and that’s something Colapinto needs to be prepared for.

“You can see Argentina now with Colapinto,” the former Ferrari driver told the Beyond the Grid podcast. “Even see can see they flew to Brazil, and they really own him, and they are giving a lot of support.

“Okay, so let’s watch the next step. Let’s see how the boy is going to do, and let’s see how the fans are going to behave.

“Because the media in Brazil, it’s a bit of ‘Oh yeah, let’s support’, but the first time you do something wrong, they put you down.

“So you have to be at peace with yourself.”

Barrichello had to deal with similar pressure during his Formula 1 career, his coming from being a Brazilian driver. He concedes it’s not something he ever managed to get on top of.

“I never did,” he said. “I never got on the top of that. It’s funny you say that, but I never really got on top of that.

“And it’s good that you still fear something. My father always said, ‘if you’re going to the sea, you have to respect. Don’t go when you cannot touch the ground anymore, because it can take you’.

“So you have to have a little fear by something in order for you to respect. So you can see, like a two-year-old, something coming. They don’t fear anything. And if the father don’t say ‘Hey, calm down or just stop’ all of a sudden you see he comes back with a broken arm or something. Because there’s no fear. There’s no respect for that environment.

“So when I say that I never got on the top of the Brazilian, because the Brazilian is a different public.”

Colapinto has been linked to Red Bull and Alpine for F1 2025 with Vowles revealing he is talking with other teams about the driver as Williams already have Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon locked in for next year.

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