The Argentine pilot Franco Colapinto not only has its sights focused on trying to compete in the Formula 2 during the next season, but also warned that he had the intention with his team to participate in the last race of the division in Abu Dhabiin the prelude to the Grand Prix of Formula 1 of the United Arab Emirates, at the end of November.
In a press conference he gave in one of the halls of the Argentine Automobile Club (ACA), the 20-year-old from Buenos Aires announced that the group accompanying him “is doing everything possible to get me into a Formula 2 in Abu Dhabi.” .
“We still don’t know which team, because there will be some free seats. “We are finishing closing the budget.” assured the Pilar native, protagonist during this 2023 International Formula 3 championship.
In this regard, the Spanish María Catarineu, one of the driver’s managers, indicated that “there is still nothing closed, but we are looking for some more sponsors to make the step forward”, which would mean that the Argentine takes part in the last competition of the tournament. F2, scheduled for November 26, at the Yas Marina circuit.
Colapinto, who has participated in different European automobile categories since 2017, listed his desire to race in Formula 2 in 2024 “because it would be a great progress for my career.”
The member of the Academy Williams (he has not yet resolved his continuity in the British team for next year) he stressed that a third consecutive season in Formula 3 “would not be positive for my career, modestly.”
“We want to take the leap and it seems to us that it is the ideal time to do it,” Colapinto assumed, before an auditorium that exceeded a hundred people, with those close to the environment, press representatives and even fans who managed to sneak into the conference and who applauded. each of his interventions.
“The main thing is that I am in Formula 2 in 2024. My goal is to continue projecting”insisted the Buenos Aires native, who during this season reached fourth place in the Formula 3 competition, with a unit from MP Motorsport.
Colapinto assured that the “change from Formula 3 to Formula 2 will not be easy, but it is time to make it, because there will be new cars,” he indicated.
“The cars are heavier, they have a power of 650 horsepower (HP); The tires are 18 inches instead of 15,” described the driver, who won the Sprint competitions this season in Silverstone (July) and Monza (September).
Colapinto, flanked on a long table by the pointed Catarineu; the Englishman Jamie Campbell (another sports manager) and the president of the ACA, Jorge Rosales; He also referred to the “support” that he receives daily from his fans on social networks and “on the street, where they do not stop greeting me and asking for photos.”
“The truth? “I am very grateful,” he said with the self-confidence of a 20-year-old boy who has not yet fully fallen into the dream he embarked on a while ago, beyond the “professionalism that Franco (Colapinto) shows us every day, not only above the car but also below,” as Catarineu pointed out.
In that context, Colapinto himself valued the 2023 season he carried out, highlighting having been “very consistent, beyond the mistakes I made, which I had, logically,” he admitted.
“I was disqualified in Australia (in Melbourne) and I couldn’t get better results. When the championship started we thought we were ready to fight for the title. After passing the first two races we realized that the objective should be to try to be runners-up,” he acknowledged.
Still in pain from a small left clavicle fracture that he suffered last September, in the run-up to the competitions in Monza, Colapinto will participate next week, along with his handlers, in meetings “in which they will try to close financial agreements with some sponsors ”.
In that sense, the pilot praised and thanked the management of the record composer and DJ called Bizarrap, who “gave us contacts and allowed us to have new meetings,” he said.
“The budgets to compete in Formula 2 are very high. “It is a very difficult economic issue but we hope it is resolved in our favor.”said Colapinto, who was also satisfied “for the support” of the Visit Argentina brand, based on an agreement it maintains with the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Nation.
“It allowed me to take Argentina in the car in all the competitions I ran. Having the flag in the car and feeling the anthem on the podium were very comforting experiences for me,” she concluded.
Source: Ambito
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