Debunking Myths About Franco Colapinto

debunking myths about franco colapinto

“he’s barely qualifying in f2.”

he’s currently standing at 6th, over kimi antonelli’s 7th and ollie bearman’s 15th + is currently outqualifying his teammate in mp motorsport dennis hauger, who is standing in 8th place at the moment (source)

“he doesn’t have his super license yet.”

he does. he got it in november 2023 (source 1, source 2, source 3)

“he comes from money” / “bought his way in” / “he’s a pay driver”

he really doesn’t, and i think this one is the lie that pisses me off the most. franco has a history of struggling with funding throughout his career. even when he was confirmed into f2, he was always searching for sponsors because he is in a much more precarious position than most of his peers—because, unlike other drivers, franco does not have friends or family members with money he can rely on. all the funding he has has come from sponsors, deals his team has helped him sign, and support from argentinian celebrities like bizarrap (source 1, source 2, source 3, reddit thread)

this is what franco said in regards to funding when he was getting into f2:

and:

i say this as an argentinian myself,,, as a country we are not doing well economically. do you really think the current argentinian driver would come from money?? like…

FURTHERMORE! while williams pays for part of the expenses, franco’s said he couldn’t gather all the funds at the moment of first signing with them. williams’ then contract with him basically stated that he could only have 3 sponsors, so franco’s team and him really had to be careful when choosing their sponsors for his f2 season. he’s also said his driving style used to be more on the offensive side, but during f3/f2 he began being reeling it back in and becoming more careful when it came to potentially damaging the cars he drives because the fees for damages partly come out of his pocket.

“he said he didn’t like max verstappen in an interview/podcast.”

the clip (22:03-22:33) was taken out of context and has been purposefully translated in an iffy way. if you need a full translation, i’m more than willing to do it.

basically: he’s asked which driving styles he likes most, he says he really likes the styles of young f1 drivers (lando norris, george russell) and says that (i cannot stress this enough: in terms of driving styles) he’s not really keen on max verstappen’s style. he follows this by adding that he still thinks max in an insanely great driver (“es un pilotazo”).

another reason this gets taken out of context is because one of the interviewers there follows up by saying “he’s so arrogant” (“es un soberbio”) and franco is just left sort of 🧍um.

additionally:

i think it’s also worth mentioning that, as a latin american driver, franco naturally gets less opportunities than european drivers. other f2 drivers like gabriel bortoleto (brazilian) and rafael villagómez (mexican), much like franco, have also previously stated that in comparison to english/european drivers, they have less opportunities to make mistakes along the way in their careers. even then, villagómez and bortoleto come from money.

franco stated once that he feels that when it comes to english/european drivers, they get more chances when it comes to making mistakes, whereas his margin for mistakes (as an argentinian driver who doesn’t come from money) is significantly smaller.

now onto fun facts you should know about fran colapinto

he raced in monza with a recently broken clavicle and WON. he said only his manager and a few members of the williams team knew because he didn’t want to be taken out by the fia before the race.

picture of his scar after the operation ^

he says he’s still not used to/feels embarrassed by being relatively famous because 2 years ago no one knew who he was. in an interview he mentioned he misses going to mcdonalds and just,, munching down on a hamburger. he said that now he’s scared someone will take a picture of him with like…. sauce dripping out of his mouth. (he also said that’s why he likes europe so much cause no one knows him there LMAO)

he says he loves racing in italy because it reminds him of argentina, but that he’s recently started falling in love with australia ever since he raced there in f2 <3

he was asked when was the first time he drove a car (ever) and franco just sort of went “……i don’t think i can answer without getting arrested”

he’s always been very vocal when it comes to thanking his team and how much he owes to them. he’s stated multiple times that throughout his career there were moments when he had zero funds, and if it weren’t for his team working 24/7 to get him sponsors and deals, he would’ve never made it this far.

there’s this really funny clip of him being interviewed after a race (i can’t find it atm but if i do i’ll link it) when he tells the interviewer (in spanish) “thank god you didn’t interview me, like, three minutes ago cause i was pissed. but i’m better now :D”