Williams’ Franco Colapinto said finishing inside the top-10 for the first time in a Formula 1 qualifying session was “a dream come true” at Baku.
Signed by Williams as Logan Sargeant’s mid-season replacement ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, Colapinto finished a promising 12th on debut.
Looking to build on that first outing, Colapinto’s Azerbaijan GP progress was hampered by a crash in FP1.
Still, Colapinto and Williams recovered and the F1 rookie made it into the top-10 shootout alongside team-mate Alex Albon.
“It’s a very important moment for Williams, it’s for me a dream come true,”‘ Colapinto told the media post-qualifying (via Motorsport.com)
“After yesterday was going to be tough, but we did a very good comeback, so we’re happy.
“I achieved [a Q3 result] in my second weekend in F1, so I can’t be any more happy.
“It was a very good session. I think we put the laps in. Every time I had to go out, we did a very good job as a team.
“Of course, I would have been a little bit happy to finish in front of Aston, maybe, but we did a little step on the set-up to see what we can do if we could gain a little bit more for the last run on the new tyres but it didn’t really work out, the tyres, the rear stayed alive for the whole lap but I think the team did an amazing job to put the two cars in Q3.”
Colapinto praises Williams mechanics
After his shunt in opening practice, Colapinto was glowing in his praise of the Williams mechanics.
With hard work and several hours put in to ensure he could participate in FP2, Colapinto wanted to repay the efforts of his Williams colleagues.
“The boys in the garage did an amazing job too,” he said.
“They didn’t even have lunch but they were working flat out to put my car out in FP2. And after they did that they gave me a big confidence boost and a lot of energy to try and achieve a good result for them, for the effort that they have been doing this year.
“It was nice today to give them back a little bit of what they gave me. So I’m very happy about it.
“Of course, it’s still a long way to go but it’s always an important moment for you to be in Q3. I even did very good laps. Every lap was on it and I just can’t wait for tomorrow.
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow, it’s a short straight until T1, but I am very excited. It’s an amazing moment, my first Q3, and I am very happy about it, to be honest. It’s the moment every driver dreams of.”
