Williams Racing makes clear plans for Franco Colapinto despite signing Carlos Sainz

Williams Racing team principal James Vowles has confirmed that Franco Colapinto will be kept up to speed through TPC (Testing of Previous Cars). The Argentine driver is forced to sit out for the 2025 season as the Grove-based team signed Spanish driver Carlos Sainz for the impending season.

Colapinto stepped up for Williams on short notice in the 2024 F1 season after the team sacked Logan Sargeant during summer break. He drove nine races and scored five points in total. However, the 21-year-old failed to grab a seat for the upcoming season despite being linked to top teams, including Red Bull.

Williams, meanwhile, signed Carlos Sainz from Ferrari to pair him up with Alex Albon. Moreover, with Franco Colapinto failing to secure a seat, he will continue to extend his services as a reserve driver for the Grove-based team.

Regardless, James Vowles has a special plan in motion to ensure the Argentine driver stays up to speed. Speaking to the media, the team principal revealed that they have a two-year-old car that will keep Franco up to speed throughout the 2025 season (via racingnews365):

"We'll have a historic car, a two-year-old car. He'll be running that plenty to get a lot of speed," Vowles said.

Vowles recalled that in 2019, he dealt with a similar situation involving Esteban Ocon when the latter was a reserve driver for Mercedes and had to take a year-long break.

"I've done this before in a previous life with Esteban [Ocon] when he took a year out. Effectively, Esteban's here today and still a strong driver. There are things we can do effectively around it to maintain his strength," he added.

Williams is looking forward to a better and stronger season in 2025, especially with Carlos Sainz's onboarding. The Spaniard was replaced by Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari, and due to a lack of seat availability, he opted for the Grove-based squad.

For Colapinto, the 2024 season proved to be a decent stepping stone as he showed a lot of promise. Things with Red Bull didn't work out as they chose Liam Lawson as Sergio Perez's replacement and also had an equally strong option in Yuki Tsunoda.

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Franco Colapinto lists out his biggest regret of the 2024 season

Franco Colapinto (Image Source: Getty)

Franco Colapinto had a huge crash in the qualifying session of the Las Vegas Grand Prix. He slammed his car into a concrete wall, and the impact was huge as the car split into two parts. The 21-year-old had to be taken into medical care but was cleared to race as usual on Sunday.

Speaking on Williams' YouTube channel, Colapinto revealed that if he could go back in time to change one thing, he would reverse the events that unfolded in Vegas (via Planet F1):

“I think especially Vegas qualifying. I think Brazil because it was my first time on the wets. It was [a] big [crash]. I see it as a little bit less a disaster. Well, it was a disaster but like in my head, Vegas was so much bigger thing. I still was going for it and trying to put the car in but it still feels like a much bigger mistake than one of Brazil," Colapinto said.

Franco Colapinto will now serve as a reserve driver for Williams in the 2025 season as the grid is complete for the upcoming season.