Franco Colapinto jokes Williams ‘will kill me’ over complaint

Colapinto signed for the Williams Driver Academy in January 2023 ahead of a second season in Formula 3. With the support of the Grove natives, the Argentine secured fourth place in the standings and moved up to Formula 2 – where Colapinto won one victory in 20 races before his F1 debut. .

Franco Colapinto jokes Williams is ‘going to kill me’ for urging fans to buy fake products

Vowles’ decision to replace Sargeant after an FP3 crash for the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix and promote Colapinto to a Formula 1 seat with Williams has since been fully vindicated. After three races at the pinnacle of motorsport, Colapinto erased what Sargeant had achieved.

But while Colapinto scored four points with 8th place at the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – eclipsing the point Sargeant fortuitously scored in 37 entries – the Buenos Aires native has now risked the wrath of Williams by lashing out at the price the team charges for F1 products.

The official Williams store charges £47 for a standard adult-sized team t-shirt, £59 for a polo shirt, £81 for the hoodie, £27 for a team cap and £31 for an Alex Albon cap . Williams also put its first set of Colapinto-specific merchandise on sale for fans at its Fan Zone in Austin, Texas.

Williams does not have Colapinto-specific items available for purchase online, but has listened to fans around the world clamoring for merchandise by releasing some ahead of the United States Grand Prix. But Williams’ prices annoyed Colapinto, who jokingly offered some advice to his fans.

Colapinto told Corazon: “Williams has set a price that even Cristiano Ronaldo can’t buy. Then the Argentinians go crazy and put them out of stock. They leave them without stock and then we eat rice for two months, man.

“Buy counterfeit products, cheap products,” Colapinto continued, before clarifying: “Nothing. Better to buy Williams stuff, buy Williams stuff! They will kill me, me who promotes fake stuff.

Franco Colapinto needs Williams to lower loan terms at Sauber/Audi

The Argentine has long had a rich passion for Formula 1, but had to wait more than two decades for one of their own to return to the grid when Colapinto made his debut for Williams at the 2024 Italian Grand Prix . Gaston Mazzacane was the former Argentine F1. driver in 2001.

Yet Colapinto enjoyed instant success on the Formula 1 grid. His P8 in Baku even saw the junior Williams become the first Argentine driver to score points in a Grand Prix since the 1982 South African Grand Prix, when Carlos Reutemann achieved second place while driving for Williams.

Yet despite his instant success as Albon’s teammate and shattering what Sargeant has achieved, Colapinto’s hopes of driving F1 in 2025 hinge on Audi loaning the Argentine from Williams to Sauber. Carlos Sainz will join Williams on a multi-year contract in 2025 with Albon.

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