{"id":23591,"date":"2024-08-28T09:37:48","date_gmt":"2024-08-28T13:37:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=23591"},"modified":"2024-08-28T09:46:50","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T13:46:50","slug":"revealed-williams-began-colapinto-talks-before-sargeant-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/08\/28\/revealed-williams-began-colapinto-talks-before-sargeant-crash\/","title":{"rendered":"Revealed: Williams began Colapinto talks before Sargeant crash"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After days of speculation, Williams announced <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/08\/27\/williams-franco-colapinto-is-best-chance-to-score-points\/\" target=\"_self\">Franco Colapinto<\/a> as the driver to replace <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/08\/27\/williams-take-decision-to-replace-logan-sargeant-report\/\" target=\"_self\">Logan Sargeant<\/a>. This ended the uncertainty about Sargeant&#8217;s future that dominated F1 news after his FP3 crash. However, it has been revealed that Williams first contacted the Argentine before Sargeant&#8217;s crash.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Franco Colapinto was first approached last Friday<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h4>Williams were already evaluating alternatives<\/h4>\n<p>As mentioned previously on LWOS, the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/08\/24\/logan-sargeant-on-thin-ice-as-williams-consider-mid-season-swap\/\" target=\"_self\">first whispers of a mid-season swap at Williams<\/a> emerged well before last weekend.<\/p>\n<p>It was actually several months ago that rumours spread about Sargeant being replaced before the end of 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, this scenario was never considered as likely. However, it is worth noting that <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/08\/26\/james-vowles-sainz-contract-talks-shockingly-close-to-dating\/\" target=\"_self\">James Vowles<\/a> hinted at a possible mid-season driver change some time ago.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1urJw28szmI\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fox Sports Argentina<\/a>, one of Franco Colapinto&#8217;s representatives (Maria Catarineu) revealed that Williams first entered discussions with the Argentine on Friday night.<\/p>\n<p>This means that Sargeant&#8217;s future was already at risk before his crash on Saturday morning:<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Well, we knew it could be possible on Friday night,&#8221; <\/em>Catarineu explained.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"k38rzCkwSDN5UboOGq6eBw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2167333016\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'k38rzCkwSDN5UboOGq6eBw',sig:'JRwajTOy6oC2ayTzs-XVA_sFr2SkTNw53sgthEWc_Rk=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2167333016',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>When asked if Sargeant&#8217;s FP3 incident triggered discussions, she emphasised that <em>&#8220;Williams contacted us on Friday night,&#8221; <\/em>the day before the incident.<\/p>\n<p>Catarineu, who works for Bullet Sports Management, then outlined how things progressed on Saturday:<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;On that day, [several hours] after Sargeant&#8217;s accident happened in the morning&#8230; he [Colapinto] showed us a message [from Williams].<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;The message said &#8211; &#8216;Can we talk?&#8217; &#8211; and obviously there was a conversation.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Colapinto capitalises on an unlikely opportunity<\/h4>\n<p>These quotes serve as evidence that Logan <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/04\/14\/williams-reportedly-exploring-alternatives-to-logan-sargeant\/\" target=\"_self\">Sargeant has been on thin ice<\/a> for several months.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the vote of confidence he received last year, the American&#8217;s position has clearly been in jeopardy since the start of 2024.<\/p>\n<p>James Vowles first showed his ruthlessness at the Australian GP, when he withdrew Sargeant from the race after Albon crashed in Free Practice.<\/p>\n<p>In hindsight, this decision was an early indication of the team&#8217;s dwindling faith in the 23-year-old.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"4m0kgsj0QP9z6ZLQLsVUoQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1818772939\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'4m0kgsj0QP9z6ZLQLsVUoQ',sig:'YfwR73xYi9G12UPU3ZsVlvIyIFqGRKcia2jOsSejqsQ=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1818772939',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>This leaves Franco Colapinto with the task of contributing to a highly competitive constructors&#8217; battle.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/08\/27\/red-bull-prevented-lawson-from-joining-williams-heres-why\/\" target=\"_self\">Williams<\/a> have only collected four points this season, so expectations should be relatively low for Colapinto.<\/p>\n<p>Observers are unlikely to demand results from a driver who was abruptly put into an F1 seat halfway through the season.<\/p>\n<p>However, this is not to say Colapinto cannot perform well.<\/p>\n<p>Currently 6th in the F2 standings in his rookie season, the Argentine is a driver with clear potential.<\/p>\n<p>Colapinto drove for Williams in FP1 at the British GP this year, in addition to last year&#8217;s post-season test.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, his mileage in F1 machinery is limited. That said, the 21-year-old will have some experience &#8211; however limited &#8211; to draw upon.<\/p>\n<p>Based on the pace <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/08\/02\/albon-calls-on-williams-to-reverse-development-slump\/\" target=\"_self\">Alex Albon<\/a> showed in qualifying last weekend, the updated Williams FW46 could be in contention for points moving forward.<\/p>\n<p>The upcoming Italian GP is traditionally a strong track for the Grove-based team.<\/p>\n<p>If Franco Colapinto can even come close to achieving points this year, his 9-race stint will almost certainly be deemed a success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After days of speculation, Williams announced Franco Colapinto as the driver to replace Logan Sargeant. This ended the uncertainty about Sargeant&#8217;s future that dominated F1 news after his FP3 crash. However, it has been revealed that Williams first contacted the Argentine before Sargeant&#8217;s crash. Franco Colapinto was first approached last Friday Williams were already evaluating [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":10584,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4,3],"tags":[2220,68,465,1818,1693,94],"class_list":["post-23591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-2024-formula-1-season","tag-f1","tag-f1-news","tag-franco-colapinto","tag-logan-sargeant","tag-williams"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}