F1 Insider shares “oceans of fans” supporting Franco Colapinto late night - “The passion he has ignited is absolutely astounding”

Despite competing in just five races in the 2024 season so far, upcoming Formula 1 star Franco Colapinto has amassed a huge fan following. F1 pundit and commentator Will Buxton shared a video of "oceans of fans" outside the Williams garage waiting to interact with the Latin American youngster at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace in Brazil.

Williams F1 brought in Colapinto to replace the US-based rookie driver Logan Sargeant ahead of the 2024 Italian Grand Prix weekend (September 30th to October 1st) at Monza. Since then, the Argentine racer has impressed the F1 community by scoring points in two of his five races so far (four points in Azerbaijan and one point in Austin).

With four more Grand Prix remaining in the 2024 season, the 21-year-old driver is just seven points behind his teammate Alex Albon, a commendable feat considering the latter has completed 20 races this year. This has allowed Colapinto to amass a strong South American fanbase.

Ahead of the upcoming Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos, British broadcaster Buxton reshared a video on X, showing fans waiting outside the Williams' garage to interact with Colapinto.

Here's a look at the post, captioned:

"We’d just finished filming Weekend Warmup when pitlane walk started last night. Maybe 10 people outside each of the top four teams but an ocean of fans outside Williams. The support for this young man and the passion he has ignited is absolutely astounding."

As of now, Colapinto is placed 18th on the Drivers' table. In spite of making a mark in his debut season this year, he is yet to receive a full-time contract for the 2025 season.

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"He just jumped straight in and did a fantastic job" - Lewis Hamilton praised Williams' rookie Franco Colapinto for his racecraft

In just five races, Franco Colapinto has managed to impress the F1 community, including F1 racers currently on the grid. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton praised the young Argentine ahead of the 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Hamilton expressed his opinion during the mandatory pre-race media interaction.

"For this guy here, he didn’t have that. He just jumped straight in and did a fantastic job, and it was really great to see young people and young talented individuals to get the opportunity to come through and shine," he said.

"I think he did that in the first race. We had a great little battle. It was super safe, it was hard but fair. I think he’s earned his right to be here. There still is a seat available and he’s saying it’s not for him to decide, but my advice would be to make sure that… I’d be pushing on my side to do absolutely everything," Hamilton added, advising Colapinto to focus on performance.

With a few seats remaining for the 2025 season, Colapinto will likely hope to get an opportunity to continue racing in F1 next year.