Franco Colapinto became the first Argentine racing driver to score points in a Formula 1 race since Carlos “Lole” Reutemann in 1982. The 21-year-old finished eighth in Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, scoring four points for both the Driver’s and Constructor’s championships.

Colapinto earned high praise from several renowned F1 figures for his performance in what was his second race in the prestigious series. The Pilar native had joined the Williams F1 team midway through the season to replace U.S. driver Logan Sargeant.

“It was really great to see talented young guys coming through and driving so well,” said seven-time World Champion British driver Lewis Hamilton remarking on the performances of Colapinto and 19-year-old British driver Oliver Bearman (a Haas stand-in). 

Colapinto managed to hold off the seasoned Mercedes driver during the race: Hamilton came in ninth and approached the 21-year-old after the race to congratulate him. Colapinto shared a photo of the encounter on his Instagram, calling it “the best moment of his day” and admitting it was a dream come true for him to race against Hamilton and shake his hand.

The Argentine’s performance also garnered praise from Williams Team Principal James Vowles: “Vamos, Franco, vamos! [sic] Really proud of you, you executed perfectly from start to finish.” He also highlighted Colapinto’s achievement in earning his first points and said he “can’t wait to see how they move forward together.”

Will Colapinto race in F1 in 2025?

The Colapinto fever has taken over F1, with Argentine fans inundating the comments section at every Williams F1 publication on Instagram and X. However, the lingering question for racing fans is “Will he race in 2025?”

The outlook for the Argentine was bleak: Colapinto’s teammate, Thailand’s Alex Albon, is under contract with the team until 2027, while Willams has recently announced their hiring of current Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz, from Spain, until 2026.

However, Vowles recently admitted he’d be keen on the Argentine getting a seat in the next season and hinted that Williams could broker a deal with Sauber to make that a reality.

“I’d really like to see him racing. I want a seat for him in 2025, ideally in F1,” he told racing news outlet Motorsport.com. “There’s only one seat. We’ll see what we can work out there.”

The seat Vowles refers to is the spot next to Germany’s Nico Hulkenberg in Sauber F1’s driver lineup for 2025. Both of the team’s current drivers — Chinese Guanyu Zhou and Finnish Valtteri Bottas — are on expiring contracts and while Hulkenberg has been announced for the upcoming season, there’s no confirmation of who will occupy the remaining seat.

“In two races [Colapinto] has shown he deserves a spot in F1,” said Vowles. “We’ll see if we can find a way to work with [Sauber team owner and German automotive manufacturer] Audi to make it work.”

Who was the last Argentine to score points in F1 before Colapinto?

While the last Argentine to race in F1 before Colapinto was Gastón Mazzacane with Prost in 2001, the La Plata native raced with backmarker teams and was never close to the points.

It was Carlos “Lole” Reutemann who became the last Argentine to score points in an F1 race in the 1982 South African Grand Prix, at the Kyalami circuit.

The race almost didn’t happen, as it was embroiled in the driver’s strike over the terms of the Super License, the qualification that allows drivers to compete in F1 to this day.

Reutemann, who also raced for Williams, retired from the sport after one more race, citing tensions amid the Malvinas War and that he was tired of insider politics in the sport.

Editorial disclaimer

Although the UK refers to the Malvinas territory as the “Falklands Islands,” Argentina strongly contests this name. The Buenos Aires Herald refers to the islands as the Malvinas Islands.