Franco Colapinto backed for final F1 2025 seat by Lewis Hamilton

Franco Colapinto has received a ringing endorsement from F1 world champions Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

The 21-year-old Argentinian has caught the eye with several impressive displays during a stand-in cameo for Williams, having replaced the underperforming Logan Sargeant from the Italian Grand Prix in September.

Colapinto has scored five points across two of the five grands prix he has entered to date and out-performed his more established teammate Alex Albon in recent races.

He has found himself linked with the final seat at Sauber for 2025, as well as emerging as a potential option for Red Bull to add to their driver pool as they seek answers for their current dilemma surrounding the out-of-form Sergio Perez.

“I think he’s done an incredible job,” Hamilton said in Thursday’s FIA press conference ahead of this weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

“Last minute to be called upon and thrown into the deep end in this sport. The majority of us, if we’re lucky to get in the sport we have a bit of run up. If you look at young Kimi [Antonelli] for example, he’s got a lot of test days before his first race.

“I think he will have over 20 days or something in the car, which is unprecedented. As for this guy here, he didn’t have that. He just jumped straight in and did a fantastic job. It’s always great to see young talented individuals come through and get the opportunity to shine.

“I think he did that in the first race. We had a great little battle. It was super safe. It was hard but fair and I think he’s earned his right to be here. There’s still a seat available. He’s saying it’s not for him to decide but my advice would be, to be pushing and doing absolutely everything…

“At the end of the day he’s just got to focus on doing his job every weekend, as he is. Hopefully he’s got good people behind him who are doing the right job to make sure that he’s here racing next year.”

Three-time world champion Verstappen was asked about the rumours about Colapinto potentially joining the Red Bull family.

“It’s complicated to answer because he’s still contracted to Williams,” the Dutchman said.

“Williams are probably scratching their heads a bit with what to do about Franco, but for me personally, it just shows that teams in general need to be more open to put young talents in and trust them.

“Now you have this kind of situation where he’s a Williams junior and potentially has to leave and find luck next year. They could have put him in their car. So it’s complicated.

“Does he deserve a spot on the grid? I think with what he has shown so far, yes. But it’s not easy to find a spot at the moment.”

Colapinto stressed the situation is not for him to decide but added: “If Williams cannot get me a race seat, the normal thing is they allow me to go somewhere else and they allow me to get the best opportunity for the future.

“It’s a thing for the future and it will be great if it happens. I thought I was not going to racing in F1 next year and that’s still my first view. So I don’t really get too excited about what everybody is talking about. But let’s see.”