Colapinto’s press conference in Baku
The Argentine spoke to the press this morning during his first activity in Azerbaijan.
The Formula 1 Grand Prix in Baku, Azerbaijan will be the second highly demanding test for Franco Colapinto.
The Williams driver arrived at the circuit and surprised everyone with a video in which he taught his teammates how to drink mate. In addition, in the press conference he held with the category’s official account, he gave details of how some drivers responded after his first race in Italy and provided details of the changes that he believes he must make to improve his performance in the upcoming competitions.
The 21-year-old is confident that his preparation in the simulator and free practice on Friday and Saturday will be enough to be on pace and competitive in qualifying and the race. “The goal is to progress little by little. I think it’s very similar to Monza. In Monza I didn’t know the car, now I don’t know the track, so it’s something to learn. I’ve been on a lot of street circuits, but I hope I’ve worked hard enough in the simulator to be on the fast pace.”
He added: “The reality is that I don’t know the next seven tracks, and we know it’s going to be tough, and that was part of the risk, and it’s also going to be a great experience to know these last seven races of the year in which I haven’t raced. So I know it’s going to be tough, but I’m working hard and doing a lot of preparation to be ready.”
The Argentine also spoke about some modifications that had been made to his car, as after the Grand Prix in Italy he had said that he had felt the seat was very hard and that this caused him a lot of body pain: “I need to make changes to my body. The car seat is so rigid that I don’t think it has fully adapted to my body. We improved the seat, so this is very good news.”
Colapinto also looked back on what he experienced during his debut weekend in F1 at Monza and the importance of the support he received from the entire Williams team and the rest of the drivers. “I received a lot of information from all the team members. And they were very helpful. They were very, very useful. And they helped me process everything a little bit quicker, to make the learning process quicker. And I think part of the good performance I had at Monza was due to my engineers, to the mechanics, to the warm welcome that everyone has given to the team. Alex has also been a great help, he has supported me a lot. And, yes, I am very happy to be in this team.”
