Latest Argentina race talks revealed following Franco Colapinto’s popularity boom

Sam Cooper
Argentina fans show their support for Franco Colapinto.

The race in Brazil saw plenty of Argentinian fans come to support Franco Colapinto.

Argentina’s tourism minister has revealed the country has met with F1 officials to discuss a possible race following the introduction of Franco Colapinto into the sport.

Colapinto’s unexpected arrival into F1 has resulted in a wave of interest from Argentina with no shortage of potential sponsors queuing up and the country itself is looking to take advantage.

Latest Argentina race talks revealed by government official

Colapinto has just three races left of his stand-in run for Williams but with links to Red Bull not going away, he may be on the grid a little while longer.

In the meantime, Argentina is working to have a more permanent spot in F1 and that would be with a race in the South American country with the country having last hosted a grand prix in 1998.

Former vice president turned tourism minister Daniel Scioli told Motorsport.com that meetings with F1 president Stefano Domenicali have been taking place.

“We are starting to work on the possibility of bringing Formula 1 back to Argentina. Stefano knows Argentina very well, he has the best memories of our country,” he said.

“The meeting was very cordial, bearing in mind that we are talking about the organisation of an event that is the most sophisticated in the world in terms of logistics of all kinds.

“There is a lot of hard work to be done in order to reach the objective. We have to work on the race track, on all the requirements of an event as sophisticated as this one.”

As for Colapinto, Scioli praised his “human qualities” as well as his driving skill.

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“I am very proud of what Colapinto is generating as an Argentinian,” he said.

“His charisma, his human qualities, his quality as a driver are wonderful. At a time when Formula 1 is growing, generating more and more expectations, it is an event that goes beyond sport, with political and social impact.”

Red Bull are still working in the background to try and secure a deal for Colapinto but it remains to be whether that would be in the VCARB seat or Red Bull itself.

As it stands, Liam Lawson is contracted at VCARB until the end of the season while Sergio Perez has a deal for next year with Red Bull but that is thought to contain performance clauses which could lead to an early divorce.

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