Is Franco Colapinto from a rich family? F1 racer's family background explored

Franco Colapinto impressed the entire F1 Paddock when he debuted for Williams Racing mid-season in place of Logan Sargeant. He proved to be extremely competent, given the car he was piloting. Despite his lack of experience, the 21-year-old was able to score points in his second race for the team.

F1 drivers are usually associated with strong financial backing because of how expensive the sport can get. However, it has been observed over the years that many drivers, including the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, have become examples of excellent racers with weak financial backing.

Franco Colapinto's case is similar. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he did not have the financial backing to get into the world of motorsports. He left his home in Argentina when he was just 14. He reminisced to Motorsports.com that he only goes home for Christmas. Leaving his roots at such a young age wasn't an easy decision.

"I just go [home] for Christmas and New Year since I was 14 and went to live alone in Italy, and I think that’s a thing that sometimes people don’t know or understand about someone from Argentina or South America coming [to Europe]," Colapinto said.

Williams Racing's boss, James Vowles, also claimed that Colapinto's father sold his house to get him to race in the Formula 4 Championship, which shows the struggles he had to face early in his life.

"His [Colapinto's] father sold his house for him to go and do one championship which is the F4 championship, which is how I spotted him. He won in a team that was not at the right level, but he won, and that opened the door for him," Vowles said.

Colapinto has Italian-Argentine dual citizenship. His father is of Italian descent, and his mother is of Ukrainian.

Franco Colapinto in 2019 (Source: Getty Images)

Nonetheless, Franco Colapinto has proven to be an extremely competitive driver in his career. He won the Spanish F4 Championship in 2019 and finished third in the Asian Le Mans two years later. In 2022, he moved to Formula 3 and was racing in F2 when Williams Racing eyed him in 2024.

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Franco Colapinto to serve as Alpine's reserve driver in 2025

Despite Franco Colapinto's very competitive form with Williams in the 2024 F1 season, the team could not continue with him this year as they had Carlos Sainz who was departing from Ferrari.

However, Alpine soon signed Colapinto as their test and reserve driver on a multi-year deal, breaking his ties with Williams. Although he is only set to serve as their reserve driver, rumors have spread regarding his future with the team. Alpine also signed Jack Doohan as Esteban Ocon's replacement, however, he might be sacked mid-season if he fails to perform, and Colapinto could get a full-time seat.

Reacting to the rumors, Alpine's advisor Flavio Briatore said, via RacingNews365:

"We start the year with Pierre and Jack, I guarantee it. After that, we’ll see during the season. I have to help the team reach a situation where it can achieve results."

While the team has not confirmed this speculation, it has become apparent in recent years that teams are willing to terminate driver contracts if they fail to perform. It happened with Daniel Ricciardo, Logan Sargeant, and Sergio Perez around the same time.

Jack Doohan could very well be the next example in the trend if he does not meet the team's requirements. This, however, could bode well for Franco Colapinto.