The dramatic rise of Franco Colapinto could lead to the return of a race in Argentina, Formula 1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali has hinted.
Colapinto replaced Logan Sargeant at Williams from the Italian Grand Prix onwards and has caught the eye with how quickly he has found his stride following his promotion from F2.
The 21-year-old, born in Pilar, has impressed in his three F1 grands prix so far, recovering from a poor qualifying to finish 12th in Monza before outqualifying team-mate Alex Albon at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and going on to take his first points as he came home eighth. He also went on to impress on the tight streets of Singapore finishing in 11th.
Colapinto is backed by Globant - a digital service provider founded in his homeland - who is also a partner of Williams as well as linking up with F1 in May.
With a new driver and a world-renowned brand coming on board, Domenicali suggested it could be time for F1 to return to Argentina, with Buenos Aries having last hosted a grand prix 28 years ago.
“I was there the last time that everyone was in Buenos Aires to race in 1997 (sic), it is a sign of not being a great age, but that’s life,” he said at an event at the United States Grand Prix celebrating the new Globant deal.
“I really hope that all this, all you are doing for your country and also what Franco is doing, it is great for your country and hopefully it will give your country, once again, hopefully sooner rather than later the possibility for South America to host not only Mexico – in Central America – Sao Paulo in Brazil…why not?
“We are a worldwide championship but as always in life, in whatever marriage, you need to be two – so we are ready to see if someone is ready but let’s wait and look forward in case.”
For Globant, the dovetailing of its involvement in F1 with the debut of Colapinto delighted the company’s chief executive and co-founder Martin Migoya.
“All the stars are kind of getting aligned, right? Because we closed the partnership with Formula 1 and then Franco got upgraded into Formula 1 and for us that is extremely important,” he said.
“Not just because we are an Argentinian company, born in Argentina, became global and is able to be here for the first time but because that represents exactly the same thing that is happening with Franco.
“Those things happening with a lot of effort, with a lot of humbleness, with a lot of work and that at some point yields beautiful results.
“I think our partnership here, together with our support of Williams and Franco, is extremely important for our country, for our region and I think it will be beautiful to see how the things move forward.”
Michael Schumacher won the last Argentinian Grand Prix in 1998 with local hero Juan Manuel Fangio a four-time winner and both Emerson Fittipaldi and Damon Hill twice taking the chequered flag.
