Franco Colapinto names ex-teammate and $300M idol as his ideal drivers if he owned an F1 team

Williams Academy driver Franco Colapinto shared his ideal F1 team and driver pairing, featuring a childhood idol. The Argentine driver has been loaned out to Alpine as a reserve driver after vacating his seat with Williams last year.

During the 2024 season, Colapinto was called upon mid-season to take up Logan Sargeant's Williams seat from the Italian Grand Prix onward. He competed in the final nine rounds alongside Alex Albon.

In an X post, the 21-year-old's wishlist as an F1 team owner was shared, picking Albon and 300M worth (according to CelebrityNetWorth) Lewis Hamilton as his ideal candidates. He said:

"If I owned a team, I'd name it "Pampa Racing," for a little Argentinian flair. I’d recruit my former teammate Alex Albon and maybe Lewis Hamilton."

Colapinto's brief stint in F1 saw him rub shoulders with drivers he grew up watching. In his second race at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Colapinto managed to finish one spot ahead of Hamilton at eighth. The result marked his best finish of the season, earning him his first points.

In his appearance on the The Fast And The Curious podcast, Franco Colapinto reflected on racing alongside Hamilton at Baku.

"Of course, to be fighting with one of your heroes when you were younger, it's something very special. And I did enjoy it a lot. Ater the race he came and congratulated me and I respected it a lot. And it was just very nice to see how open he was, how he respected young drivers. And it's something very special for anyone in motorsports I think," he said.

Colapinto secured another points finish at The Circuit of The Americas, placing tenth. However, the rookie experienced two DNFs in Brazil and Qatar, resulting in a 19th-place finish in the standings with five points to his name.

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Franco Colapinto reacts to Hamilton's pole at Chinese sprint

Franco Colapinto applauded Lewis Hamilton's pole position with Ferrari at the Chinese Grand Prix Sprint. The feat marked Hamilton's second-ever outing with the Italian team.

Coming from a tenth-place finish in the season opener at Australia, Hamilton scored a surprise pole in Shanghai, narrowly outqualifying reigning champion Max Verstappen by 0.018 seconds.

Post qualifying, Hamilton uploaded an Instagram post sharing his excitement with the following caption:

"POLE 💥 MEGA result. From lap one the car just came alive !! The team has done a great job since the last race and hard work pays off. Still work to do, and I can’t wait to go again, especially in front of this crowd. The energy is always incredible. The real test is tomorrow ANDIAMO ~"

In the comments, Franco Colapinto left his appreciation and wrote:

"Mega mega 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼"

Franco Colapinto's comment under Lewis Hamilton's post. Source : @Instagram/lewishamilton

Hamilton went on to win the Sprint race in dominant fashion, leading the field from start to finish. However, his sprint success was overshadowed by a disqualification from the main race following a post-race inspection on his Ferrari that revealed a regulatory breach. He'd finished sixth in the race, dropping one spot from his starting position. Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri started on pole and held his ground to cross the finish line first.