F1 News: Franco Colapinto Puts VCARB 2025 Rumors To Rest

Saajan Jogia | 12 Hours Ago

Oct 18, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Williams Racing driver Franco Colapinto (43) of Team Argentina walks through the track entrance before practice for the 2024 US Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Williams driver Franco Colapinto has ruled out a future move to the Red Bull sister team VCARB in 2025, putting the rumors of his potential move to rest. Instead, the Argentine driver revealed that he won't be participating in Formula 1 next year, but his ultimate goal is to race in the premier class of motorsport.

Colapinto stepped in for Logan Sargeant, who was dismissed mid-season due to underperformance. Since his debut at the Italian Grand Prix, Colapinto has showcased remarkable skill, already surpassing the points total that Sargeant accumulated over nearly two years with the Grove team.

Unfortunately for the Williams Academy driver, his seat will be taken over by Carlos Sainz in 2025, and with no other option remaining in Formula 1 for the next season, apart from Sauber, which has many contenders lined up, Colapinto was linked to a VCARB seat for the next season, especially with Williams team principal James Vowles willing to loan him out.

Speculation also suggests that VCARB driver Liam Lawson could be promoted to Red Bull next year, potentially replacing Sergio Perez and leaving a vacant seat alongside Yuki Tsunoda. However, Colapinto dismissed the rumors of a move to VCARB and revealed that he would be racing in another series. He told F1TV, as quoted by Motorsport.com:

"No, at the moment, I don't understand much of what they are talking about. I don't know from where it came from.

"I don't have any seat for next year, and at the moment, I'm not racing Formula 1. I'm probably going to be racing somewhere else.

"So look, it's going to be maybe a year that I'm not going to be here, but I hope to be showing that I deserve a seat here enough to come back in '26 or '27. It is my goal, and it's why I'm doing what I can race after race.

"That's why [after qualifying] I was disappointed with the result and just trying to do my best session after session to try and show I deserve to be here."

Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko has also made VCARB's stance clear, stating that the team did not want to hire drivers beyond its talent pool. In addition, he suggested that with Colapinto having a long-term Williams contract, it didn't make sense to onboard a driver on loan and train him "for another team." The 81-year-old advisor told Kleine Zeitung:

"The problem with him is that he has a long-term contract with Williams.

"But that is not interesting for any team. You don't want to train a driver for another team."