Colapinto will make his F2 debut in Abu Dhabi for the 2023 season finale with MP Motorsport. Next year, he will race a full year with the Dutch team.
After the confirmation that Kimi Antonelli will race in F2 with Prema, another name is added to the 2024 grid. Franco Colapinto.
MP Motorsport, after several rumors, announced that the 20-year-old Argentinian driver will race in F2 with the same team next year.
It will be Colapinto’s fourth year with the Danish team. He made his debut in 2020 in Formula Renault, where he ended the championship in third place.
In 2021, he moved to Formula Regional European, and in 2022 in Formula 3 with the Van Amersfoort team.
A remarkable second season in F3
This year, Colapinto started with a clear goal in mind: to fight for the title. After reuniting in 2023 with his old team, Mp Motorsport, he started the season with a second place in the Sprint Race. The first win of the season came in Melbourne, but the young driver could only celebrate for a short time. All three MP drivers were disqualified because the suspension keels were not compliant with regulations.
Since then, Colapinto managed to get to the points in almost every race, showing strong consistency in his second year in Formula 3.
At Silverstone, in the Sprint Race, came the first victory of the year, and the same happened in Monza.
Colapinto ended the championship in fourth place, just 3 points behind Paul Aron in third place.
Joining Williams Academy
In January 2023, Williams announced that Colapinto would join the William Driver Academy. The program counts 3 more drivers who competed in Formula 3 this year: vice-champion Zak O’Sullivan, Oliver Gray, and Luke Browning.
Williams team has also shown its support for the promotion of Franco in Formula 2.
Let's go, @FranColapinto! 🇦🇷
Our Academy driver will be competing in the 2024 @Formula2 season with @OfficialMPteam and taking part in the final round of the 2023 F2 season in Abu Dhabi! 👏 pic.twitter.com/EghAe0kaYD
— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) October 25, 2023
Strong support from the fan
A very important part of Colapinto’s career is his large fan base, one of the most passionate ever seen for an F3 driver. Last month on Twitter, the fans made to go trending the hashtag “#FrancoColapintoaF2” trying to get in contact with big sponsors to get an F2 seat for their favorite driver.
They were enthusiastic to know their favorite drivers will race in F2 next year, and Franco thanked them on his social.
Los sueños se cumplen! 🙏🏻😊 pic.twitter.com/1YyT1F7ZWk
— Franco Colapinto (@FranColapinto) October 25, 2023
2024 F2 gird
Colapinto will most likely take Daruvala’s place at MP Motorsport. The Indian driver is currently in 12th place and in his third season in F2.
Colapinto’s teammate could be Dennis Hauger, current driver in MP Motorsport, who recently announced that he will no longer be part of Red Bull’s junior program from next year.
For now, the grid for next year counts only two names. While some names will definitely be reconfirmed for next year (like Bearman or Martins), there will also be many other drivers coming from F3.
