Argentina back in Formula 1
After a break of over 23 years, Argentina is back on the Formula 1 scene. It happened without too much fanfare in a free practice session, but one has to start somewhere. Bringing the colours of the Argentine flag, best known on the shirts of its national football team, back into the limelight was Franco Colapinto, on his debut in an official Grand Prix session at the wheel of a Williams.
Franco Alejandro Colapinto was born on 27 May 2003 in Pilar, in the province of Buenos Aires and has enjoyed a great deal of success in karting, including a win at the junior summer Olympics in 2018. He soon switched up to single-seaters, in the Spanish F4 championship, which he won in 2019. In 2020, he continued moving up the categories, finishing third in the Toyota Racing Series and the Formula Renault Eurocup. 2021 was a busy year for Colapinto who tried his hand at sports car racing, taking part in the Asian and European Le Mans series and the FIA Endurance Trophy. He also made his debut in the Le Mans 24 Hours, the youngest driver on the grid and he finished seventh in LMP2. In 2022, Colapinto switched to the FIA Formula 3 Championship with Van Amersfoot Racing, finishing ninth in that first year and then fourth in his second season, this time with MP Motorsport with whom he currently races in Formula 2. Up to this point of the season, the Argentinian is fifth in the Drivers' classification and has two podium finishes to his name, taking the win in the Sprint Race at Imola followed by a second place last weekend in the Feature Race in Spielberg.
The last Argentinian to compete in a Formula 1 Grand Prix was Gaston Mazzacane, whose 21st and final appearance of a short F1 career came at the 2001 San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, at the wheel of a Prost. He was replaced as from the next round by Luciano Burti. Of the 22 Argentinians who raced at the highest level of motorsport, three of them really made an impression. Of course, the first and most famous is the five time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio, who took the title in 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1957, racing for four different constructors, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Maserati and Mercedes. To understand just how dominant Fangio was, one only has to consider that he still holds the record for the highest percentage of race starts converted into wins (47.06%, 24 wins). Pole positions (58.86%, 29 poles) from a total of 51 starts.
The second is José Froilan Gonzalez, who only won twice, strangely both times at Silverstone. The first victory came in 1951, which earned him a place in history as this turned out to be the maiden victory for the team that currently tops the table for Formula 1 wins, namely Ferrari.
The third is Carlos Reutemann, the only one of his countrymen to have taken part in over 100 Grands Prix (146). In a decade-long career from 1972 to 1982, “Lole” as he was known came close to taking the title in 1981 with Williams, beaten by Nelson Piquet at the very last round in Las Vegas. The disappointment was enough to prompt him to retire shortly after the start of the following season. Nevertheless, the record book shows he won 12 times, took six pole positions and finished on the podium 45 times.
