Franco Colapinto | |
Nationality: | Argentine |
Birth Date: | 2003 5, df=yes |
Birth Place: | Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
Racing Licence: | FIA Gold |
Current Series: | FIA Formula 2 Championship |
First Year: | 2023 |
Current Team: | MP Motorsport |
Car Number: | 12 |
Starts: | 14 (14 entries) |
Wins: | 1 |
Podiums: | 2 |
Poles: | 0 |
Fastest Laps: | 1 |
Best Finish: | 25th |
Year: | 2023 |
Prev Series: | FIA Formula 3 Championship Intercontinental GT Challenge GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup FIA World Endurance Championship European Le Mans Series FR European Championship Asian Le Mans Series Toyota Racing Series Formula Renault Eurocup Euroformula Open Championship F4 Spanish Championship |
Prev Series Years: | 2022–23 2021 2021 2021 2021 2021 2021 2020 2019–2020 2019 2018–2019 |
Titles: | F4 Spanish Championship |
Title Years: | 2019 |
Franco Alejandro Colapinto (pronounced as /es/; born 27 May 2003) is an Argentine[1] racing driver who is currently competing in the 2024 Formula 2 Championship with MP Motorsport. He previously competed in the FIA Formula 3 for the same team, finishing fourth in that year. He is the 2019 F4 Spanish champion and a race winner in the European Le Mans Series.[2] He is a member of the Williams Driver Academy.
Colapinto started karting at the age of nine.[3] He won the Argentine Championship in 2016 and again in 2018, alongside a victory in the 2018 Youth Summer Olympics.[4]
Colapinto made his car racing debut in 2018, participating in the final round of the F4 Spanish Championship, driving for Drivex School. In 2019 Colapinto signed with FARacing by Drivex for a full campaign in the F4 Spanish Championship. He took the title by winning all three races in the season finale[5] bringing his debut car racing season tally to eleven victories, 13 podiums and 14 pole positions.[6] [7]
During the 2019 season, Colapinto drove for Drivex as a guest driver in the 2019 round at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.[8]
Drivex also ran Colapinto during the 2019 season at Spa and Catalunya.[9] [10] In July 2020, Colapinto joined the championship[11] full-time with Dutch outfit MP Motorsport.[12]
In January 2020, Colapinto joined Kiwi Motorsport for the 2020 championship.[13] The season saw him claim a race win in Hampton Downs and further 7 podiums and end the championship third overall, clinching the rookie championship win.[14] [15]
In October 2020, Colapinto joined MP Motorsport for the first day of post-season testing at Catalunya.[16] [17] He did likewise the following year at Valencia, but ended up signing for Van Amersfoort Racing instead for the 2022 season, partnering Rafael Villagómez and Reece Ushijima.[18] The Argentinian started his F3 career with a pole position on his and his team's debut in the series at Sakhir.[19] He went on to win the Sprint Race at the following round in Imola, scoring his and VAR's maiden victory in the series.[20] Throughout the season Colapinto took three more podium finishes at the Spielberg, Budapest and Zandvoort rounds and a second Sprint Race win at the final round in Monza to finish ninth in the drivers' standings.[21] [22]
In September, Colapinto partook in the 2022 post-season test, again with MP Motorsport.[23] On January 9, 2023, he was announced as MP Motorsport's driver for the 2023 season.[24]
At the season-opening Sakhir round, Colapinto qualified 12th and consequently claimed pole position for the Sprint Race, where he crossed the line in second place behind Pepe Martí. He finished 10th in the Feature Race on Sunday, scoring one more point.
Colapinto went on to qualify 7th in Melbourne. He started the Sprint Race in sixth place and climbed up the order to claim his first victory of the season.[25] However, after post-race inspections found all three MP Motorsport cars to have infringed technical regulations, he was disqualified from the Sprint Race along with his teammates Jonny Edgar and Mari Boya.[26] He then crashed out of the Feature Race, departing Australia without points.
Since then, Colapinto went on to consistently score points on every round of the calendar, aside from the Spielberg Sprint Race where he finished 13th and the season-ending Monza Feature Race in which he retired with a suspension failure after contact in the first lap. He ended the season fourth in the Drivers' Championship, with two wins at the Silverstone and Monza Sprint Races and three podium finishes at Sakhir, Catalunya and Budapest.
Colapinto was set to part in the 2023 Macau Grand Prix with MP Motorsport.[27] However, he withdrew from the event last-minute due to a broken collarbone he sustained prior to the final F3 round, and was replaced by Dennis Hauger.[28]
In October 2023, Colapinto was announced to be replacing Jehan Daruvala, moving up to Formula 2 for the final race in Yas Marina and the full 2024 season with MP Motorsport.[29] Ahead of his F2 debut, Colapinto expressed that "it's going to be tough" yet he was "super excited".[30] He finished 19th in the sprint race, but retired from the feature race due to a sensor issue.[31]
Colapinto partners 2021 FIA Formula 3 champion Dennis Hauger for the 2024 season. He takes his first Formula 2 win at the 2024 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix during the Sprint race.
In February 2021, Colapinto joined G-Drive Racing #25 for the 2021 season.[32] The season saw him claim 3 podiums in 4 races, and end the championship third overall, with his co-drivers Rui Andrade and John Falb.[33]
In January 2023, Colapinto was announced to be joining the Williams Driver Academy.[34]
Colapinto made his debut in a Formula One car with the Williams FW45, during the 2023 F1 post-season test at Yas Marina.[35] Colapinto set the 22nd fastest time overall, completing 65 laps, to be the first Argentine to drive an F1 car since Gastón Mazzacane, who last competed in the 2001 San Marino Grand Prix.[36]
Colapinto made his debut in a Formula One race weekend for the 2024 British Grand Prix, driving for Williams in the first practice session (FP1) in place of Logan Sargeant.[37] Ahead of his FP1 debut, Colapinto stated that it was a "historic moment" representing Argentina.[38]
Colapinto is of Italian descent. He names Lewis Hamilton and Ayrton Senna as his favourite drivers and Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps as his favourite track.[3] He is a Boca Juniors supporter.[39]
Season | Series | Team | Position |
---|---|---|---|
2013 | Rotax Max Buenos Aires — Micro Max | NC | |
2014 | Argentine Championship — Promocional | 6th | |
2015 | Argentine Championship — Pre-Junior | Acosta Kart Division | NC |
2016 | Argentine Championship — Sudam Junior | 10th | |
SKUSA SuperNationals — X30 Junior | 12th | ||
ROK Cup International Final — Junior ROK | Baby Race Srl | 9th | |
Argentine Championship — Pre-Junior | 1st | ||
CIK-FIA European Championship — OKJ | Baby Race Srl | NC† | |
2017 | South Garda Winter Cup — OKJ | 2nd | |
SKUSA SuperNationals — X30 Junior | CRG Nordam | 23rd | |
CIK-FIA World Championship — OKJ | Baby Race Srl | 35th | |
2018 | WSK Champions Cup — OK | CRG Spa | 22nd |
South Garda Winter Cup — OK | 17th | ||
Trofeo Andrea Margutti — OK | 24th | ||
WSK Super Master Series — OK | 46th | ||
CIK-FIA European Championship — OK | 69th | ||
WSK Open Cup — OK | 32nd | ||
CIK-FIA World Championship — OK | 45th | ||
Karting at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics | 1st |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Team | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | DC | Points | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | nowrap | Baby Race Srl | OKJ | ZUE QH | ZUE PF | ZUE R | ADR QH | ADR PF | ADR R | PRT QH | PRT PF | PRT R | GEN QH | GEN PF | GEN R | NC | 0 | |
2018 | nowrap | CRG Spa | OK | SAR QH | SAR R | PFI QH | PFI R | AMP QH | AMP R | ALB QH | ALB R | 69th | 0 |
Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | F4 Spanish Championship | Drivex School | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 49 | 9th | |
2019 | F4 Spanish Championship | align=left rowspan=2 | Drivex School | 21 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 325 | 1st |
Euroformula Open Championship | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27th | |||
Formula Renault Eurocup | FA Racing by Drivex | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC† | ||
2020 | Formula Renault Eurocup | MP Motorsport | 20 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 213.5 | 3rd | |
Toyota Racing Series | Kiwi Motorsport | 15 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 315 | 3rd | ||
2021 | Formula Regional European Championship | MP Motorsport | 16 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 140 | 6th | |
Asian Le Mans Series | G-Drive Racing | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 66 | 3rd | ||
European Le Mans Series | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 74 | 4th | |||
FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC† | |||
24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 7th | |||
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup - Silver | ROFGO Racing with Team WRT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 27th | ||
Intercontinental GT Challenge | Team WRT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC | ||
2022 | FIA Formula 3 Championship | Van Amersfoort Racing | 18 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 76 | 9th | |
2023 | FIA Formula 3 Championship | MP Motorsport | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 110 | 4th | |
FIA Formula 2 Championship | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25th | |||
2024 | FIA Formula 2 Championship | MP Motorsport | 16 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 92* | 5th* | |
Formula One | Williams Racing | Test driver | ||||||||
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | DC | Points | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | nowrap | Drivex School | ARA 1 | ARA 2 | ARA 3 | CRT 1 | CRT 2 | CRT 3 | ALG 1 | ALG 2 | ALG 3 | CAT 1 | CAT 2 | JER 1 | JER 2 | JER 3 | NAV 1 | NAV 2 | NAV 3 | NAV 4 | 9th | 49 | ||||
2019 | nowrap | Drivex School | NAV 1 | NAV 2 | NAV 3 | LEC 1 | LEC 2 | LEC 3 | ARA 1 | ARA 2 | ARA 3 | CRT 1 | CRT 2 | CRT 3 | JER 1 | JER 2 | JER 3 | ALG 1 | ALG 2 | ALG 3 | CAT 1 | CAT 2 | CAT 3 | 1st | 325 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | DC | Points | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | nowrap | FA Racing by Drivex | MNZ 1 | MNZ 2 | SIL 1 | SIL 2 | MON 1 | MON 2 | LEC 1 | LEC 2 | SPA 1 | SPA 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | HUN 1 | HUN 2 | CAT 1 | CAT 2 | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | YMC 1 | YMC 2 | NC† | 0 | |
2020 | nowrap | MP Motorsport | MNZ 1 | MNZ 2 | IMO 1 | IMO 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | MAG 1 | MAG 2 | ZAN 1 | ZAN 2 | CAT 1 | CAT 2 | SPA 1 | SPA 2 | IMO 1 | IMO 2 | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | LEC 1 | LEC 2 | 3rd | 213.5 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as they completed more than 90% of the race distance.(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)
Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | DC | Points | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2022 | nowrap | Van Amersfoort Racing | BHR SPR | BHR FEA | IMO SPR | IMO FEA | CAT SPR | CAT FEA | SIL SPR | SIL FEA | RBR SPR | RBR FEA | HUN SPR | HUN FEA | SPA SPR | SPA FEA | ZAN SPR | ZAN FEA | MNZ SPR | MNZ FEA | 9th | 76 | |
2023 | nowrap | MP Motorsport | BHR SPR | BHR FEA | MEL SPR | MEL FEA | MON SPR | MON FEA | CAT SPR | CAT FEA | RBR SPR | RBR FEA | SIL SPR | SIL FEA | HUN SPR | HUN FEA | SPA SPR | SPA FEA | MNZ SPR | MNZ FEA | 4th | 110 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)
Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | DC | Points | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | nowrap | MP Motorsport | BHR SPR | BHR FEA | JED SPR | JED FEA | MEL SPR | MEL FEA | BAK SPR | BAK FEA | MCO SPR | MCO FEA | CAT SPR | CAT FEA | RBR SPR | RBR FEA | SIL SPR | SIL FEA | HUN SPR | HUN FEA | SPA SPR | SPA FEA | ZAN SPR | ZAN FEA | MNZ SPR | MNZ FEA | YMC SPR | YMC FEA | 25th | 0 | |||
2024 | nowrap | MP Motorsport | BHR SPR | BHR FEA | JED SPR | JED FEA | MEL SPR | MEL FEA | IMO SPR | IMO FEA | MON SPR | MON FEA | CAT SPR | CAT FEA | RBR SPR | RBR FEA | SIL SPR | SIL FEA | HUN SPR | HUN FEA | SPA SPR | SPA FEA | MNZ SPR | MNZ FEA | BAK SPR | BAK FEA | LSL SPR | LSL FEA | YMC SPR | YMC FEA | 6th* | 96* |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)