Colapinto will try his hardest to “end the season on a high”

Having endured a series of tough races in the past three rounds, Williams driver Franco Colapinto will miss the opening practice in Abu Dhabi as he hands his car over to F2 driver Luke Browning.

Williams have endured three very difficult races at Sao Paulo, Las Vegas and Qatar. Franco Colapinto also sustained a high-speed crash during qualifying in Brazil, but Williams was able to fix his FW46 for the race and the Argentine driver was able to compete in this rainy Sao Paulo Grand Prix. However, Colapinto suffered a second crash in the race, which saw the team leave Brazil with two heavily-damaged cars.

The Grove-based squad was able to repair both cars for the Las Vegas Grand Prix. However, it endured a mixed start to its qualifying after Albon got eliminated in Q1. However, his team-mate Colapinto made it through to Q2 and was aiming for the top-10 shootout when he struck the inside wall at Turn 16 and slammed into the barrier on the other side of the track.

Last weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix saw Williams endure another tough time, with both drivers retiring from action in the 57-lap Lusail race.

Ahead of his last race with Williams, Colapinto claims that he will try his hardest to “end the season on a high”, with his future still hanging in the balance.

“As we head into the final race of the season, I’d like to thank the entire team for this incredible opportunity and for all their support across these nine races. It’s been a dream come true to race in Formula 1 with Williams.

“I’ll be trying my hardest to end the season on a high for the team trackside and back at the factory. Everyone at Williams has given their all throughout the season and their hard work doesn’t go unnoticed. The aim in Abu Dhabi is to have a clean weekend, build up throughout the sessions and maximise our performance.

The Argentinean racer will hand over his car to the Grove-based outfit’s academy driver Luke Browning in the first free practice session. The session will mark the first time that the British racer drives a Williams F1 car, but he has revealed that he has been busy with preparing himself for his debut run.

“I can’t wait to get on track in the FW46 and drive a Williams F1 car for the very first time. It’s a huge moment for my career and a privilege to be able to experience this generation of Formula 1 cars at a track like Abu Dhabi.

“The team and I have put a lot of preparation into this session and will make the most of every lap to learn as much as possible. Thank you to the whole team at Williams for this amazing opportunity,” Browning concluded.

Williams’ Thai driver Alex Albon has also endured a string of difficult races recently, having suffered a high-speed crash in qualifying at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, while his car has also lacked pace recently. The London-born driver hopes that the team will be able to learn from the lessons it has learnt recently.

“We arrive in Abu Dhabi this weekend for the 2024 finale, following what has felt like a long and challenging season. The team has given it their all, and I’m grateful to every single one of them for working tirelessly throughout the year to get us on track, even during the toughest times.

“We’ve experienced both highs and lows, but that’s all part of racing. As a team we’ve learned lessons which we can carry into 2025 with the hope of a stronger season. Our car didn’t perform as expected in Qatar, so hopefully those characteristics can be addressed at Yas Marina, and we can make good changes ahead of this weekend.

“Our goal is to execute a clean weekend and extract as much performance as possible in this final round, taking some useful insights into next year’s car,” concluded Albon.