Franco Colapinto had his debut season in Formula 2 cut short as he was afforded the chance to become the first Argentine in F1 since 2001.
Colapinto was racing with MP Motorsport in Formula 2 in 2024, having featured at the final round of 2023 in Abu Dhabi with the team in the place of Jehan Daruvala.
In the first 10 rounds of the season, the 21-year-old grabbed his first win in F2 in the Sprint Race at Imola, as well as two second place finishes in the Feature Races at Barcelona and Spielberg which saw him sit sixth in the standings heading into Monza.
But after Williams sacked Logan Sargeant, the Grove-based squad opted to bring in Colapinto as his replacement for the remainder of the F1 season. In his three races so far, the Argentine has displayed some standout performances and scored his first points with eighth in Baku.
With Colapinto seizing his opportunity in F1, another South American in F2 hopes to reach the same heights in the form of Gabriel Bortoleto.
Franco Colapinto praises ‘very good’ Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Formula 2 title fight
Signing with Invicta Racing for the 2024 campaign, Bortoleto came into debut season in F2 having won the Formula 3 title at the first time of asking.
Colapinto raced against Bortoleto in both F2 and F3, finishing fourth in the latter in 2023 while Bortoleto won two races and claimed six podiums to beat Zak O’Sullivan to the title.
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The Brazilian has carried his momentum on from F3 into F2 as he has secured two wins and five podiums to lead the championship heading into the final two rounds of the year.
The McLaren junior driver has been linked with the vacant Sauber seat as he hopes to continue his impressive form and reach the F1 grid. Speaking with Brazilian publication Uol.com, Colapinto heaped praise onto Bortoleto for his efforts this season.
“He’s a very good driver, I’ve raced with him since I was very young,” he said.
“He’s having great results and the level of F2 is very high this year.”
Can Gabriel Bortoleto hold off Isack Hadjar for the Formula 2 title?
With rounds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi remaining, Bortoleto leads the drivers’ standings by just four and a half points over Isack Hadjar.
Hadjar, who is part of the Red Bull junior team, had been leading the championship for some time, but the Frenchman finds himself on a poor run of form. The 19-year-old has failed to score in six of the last seven races; the one he did score in being his fourth win of the year at Spa.
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Bortoleto took advantage of Hadjar’s slump in results to take the lead of the standings in Baku. The Brazilian has only failed to score points in two races out of the last 18.
Bortoleto has the advantage heading into Qatar, but F2 is far from predictable and with such a small gap between him and Hadjar, it is all to play for in the final two rounds.