Franco Colapinto made ‘foolish’ error as manager issues Red Bull talks update

Jamie Campbell-Walter, the manager of Franco Colapinto, said the Argentine made a “foolish” error with his Las Vegas crash and now a Red Bull deal hangs in the balance.

Colapinto exploded onto the F1 scene after replacing Logan Sargeant mid-season at Williams, his impressive performances seeing his name linked with the likes of Alpine and, more recently, Red Bull for F1 2025, either with VCARB or the senior team amid continued speculation over the future of Sergio Perez. However, Colapinto’s momentum has slowed somewhat.

Franco Colapinto Las Vegas GP crash ‘foolish’

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Colapinto suffered two heavy shunts at the Brazilian Grand Prix and followed that with another in Las Vegas – measuring over 50G – in what has proven an expensive spell for Williams with Colapinto’s team-mate Alex Albon also inflicting damage.

And Campbell-Walter admits his client did himself no favours in Las Vegas.

“This one is on him, and it was a foolish one,” Campbell-Walter told Motorsport Magazine.com.

“And it’s the pressure of not knowing what your future is, which is sometimes much worse than knowing what it is. And you never know what happens to these drivers in those pressure situations.

“Don’t get me wrong, every time he gets in the car, it’s a pressure thing, in reality. And let’s not forget, he has done a phenomenal job, and he’s not one of these kids that has done hundreds of laps of testing.

“Kimi Antonelli is testing every week. Williams has no TPC car. And he just did the young driver test last year, and FP1 at Silverstone. So he’s not got a lot of experience. He’s never done a lot of testing as a driver, because we never had the budget. And he’s got the pressure of a nation on his shoulders as well.

“I can’t imagine what that’s like, and I don’t think many people can. And it’s very easy to criticise from the outside.

“I really feel for the guys back at the factory, because to be honest, they were probably building parts for next year’s car, not this year’s, and had to stop production and double shift. And for the mechanics, who haven’t had a lot of rest since Brazil, to have to do an all-nighter was a shocker. You always feel for the guys in that situation.

“We’ve got to bounce back, and just carry on and do the job. And he’s got two more weekends to prove his worth.”

But Colapinto has increased the pressure on himself as, according to his manager, he was seemingly heading for the Red Bull fold until his Las Vegas shunt.

“As it stands we have a long-term contract with Williams. There’s interest. I would say that before the qualifying crash, everything was looking good,” said Campbell-Walter.

“There is a good chance that we’ll see him on the grid next year, but I think some people want to see how he does in the next few races, which is fair enough. They’ve got plenty of drivers, so there is no rush…”

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However, Campbell-Walter urges Red Bull to take the gamble on Colapinto.

“Max [Verstappen] was a star in the making when he was a young kid at Toro Rosso, and he made lots of mistakes,” Campbell-Walter stated. “Franco’s made two mistakes. And I think people can see what he’s done against a very good, experienced team-mate.

“Logan Sargeant never was seven-tenths ahead of Alex Albon. Franco was [in Las Vegas], and it’s not the first time he’s done that.

“So I think people can see through the fact that he’s limited in experience, he’s a rookie. Is he going to be given a joker card for the odd crash here or there in his first few races?

“Probably yes, I would hope so. I hope people can see through that, and see the value in him as a human being, because he’s a great kid.”

Qatar marks the penultimate round of the F1 2024 campaign and we quizzed Colapinto on whether he has felt the pressure change around him after that instant F1 impact he made.

“Honestly I don’t feel that too much,” he replied. “In motorsport always you have some ups and downs. And you know, the last two races, they have been a bit down.

“I had five great races, and I had a very tough Brazil, and then Vegas was going great. I think I was doing a very good job, and I was getting on the rhythm until that little mistake in qualifying. And the race was again very good pace and it was great again.

“But unfortunately, those small moments that happened, and just very small details that don’t go your way comes with a big cost.”

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