Logan Sargeant’s crash in final practice for the Dutch Grand Prix broke many parts on his recently-upgraded Williams FW46. It was also the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back for team principal James Vowles.
Williams were already suffering through a particularly attrition-heavy season. They had weathered a tough start to the season in which they accumulated broken carbon fibre at a worrying rate, and not just due to Sargeant’s mistakes.
By mid-season they were getting on top of the situation and had recently introduced a promising upgrade for their car. Then Sargeant needlessly climbed onto a wet kerb during practice at the cramped Zandvoort track and smashed his FW46 to pieces.
The car was repaired in time for the race but there was no fixing Sargeant’s relationship with the team. But if Vowles showing him the door wasn’t necessarily a surprise, his choice of replacement was.
Franco Colapinto had done little more than half a season in Formula 2 plus a post-season test and a practice session for Williams in Formula 1. Promoting him to an F1 seat with just a few days’ notice was undoubtedly a gamble.
Vowles’ courageous call paid off, however. While Sargeant failed to pick up a point in 15 starts, Colapinto came eighth in his second race, on a track he had never previously raced at. He did it after out-qualifying Alexander Albon, something Sargeant never managed once.
Was Colapinto flattered by circumstances? After all, he had the benefit of an upgraded Williams which made finishing in the points a more realistic prospect for the team over the second half of the season.
| Become a RaceFans supporter and
What’s more, Colapinto was arguably no less immune to crashing than Sargeant. He had two big hits in Brazil, then a particularly costly smash in qualifying at Las Vegas (where he nonetheless beat Albon again).
But the clearest sign of Colapinto’s potential came in qualifying. Not only did he beat Albon twice, he was almost immediately much closer to his team mate’s pace than Sargeant had been. Over his nine grand prix qualifying appearances, on five occasions he either got closer to Albon than Sargeant did, or qualified ahead.
With Carlos Sainz Jnr coming to take over the second Williams seat next year, Colapinto’s appointment was always intended to be temporary. But his spell as a substitute has shown Williams there is real potential there if he can polish out the mistakes which proved Sargeant’s downfall.
| Become a RaceFans supporter and
Unrepresentative comparisons omitted. Negative value: Sargeant/Colapinto was faster; Positive value: Albon was faster
| Become a RaceFans supporter and
Miss nothing from RaceFans
Get a daily email with all our latest stories – and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:
Formula 1
Browse all Formula 1 articles
