Ex-Williams driver Jacques Villeneuve says Franco Colapinto can’t afford to ‘cry’ about missing out on a full-time Formula 1 seat as he ‘damaged’ his own chances.
With no seat on the grid for 2025, Colapinto left Williams at the end of the season to join Alpine as a reserve team driver.
The young Argentine from Formula 2 got his chance in F1 when James Vowles dumped Logan Sargeant after the Dutch Grand Prix.
He stepped up for the remainder of the season and scored points in Singapore and the United States – impressing the likes of Red Bull and Alpine.
After multiple crashes at the Brazilian Grand Prix, a shunt in Las Vegas and a DNF at the opening corner in Qatar, any interest in Colapinto for a full-time seat next season was soon squashed.
Williams had already decided on its driver pairing for 2025, with Carlos Sainz joining from Ferrari, as Colapinto’s future now rests on how Jack Doohan performs in the early stages of the 2025 season.
However, Villeneuve insists that the 21-year-old has only himself to blame for not securing a spot on next year’s grid.
“Franco Colapinto damaged his chances,” he told Action Network.
“If you are given the golden chance, it’s for you to make the most of it.
“He can’t cry about it.
“He got a few races out of this in F1.
“Not many people get that so it’s already impressive that he got that chance.
“I’m not sure what will happen with his future.
“He’s still a quick driver.
“But what he showed is he didn’t judge the situation really well.”
Villeneuve surprised by influx of rookies in F1
An incredible six drivers will line up on the grid in 2025 for their first full-time season in F1; Doohan, Gabriel Bortoleto, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Isack Hadjar, Oliver Bearman and Liam Lawson.
Doohan and Bearman have already competed in a Grand Prix before, as Lawson joins Red Bull after 11 races with the sister team.
Bortoletto arrives in the sport as the highest-ranked F2 graduate, beating Hadjar to the 2024 F2 title.
But Villeneuve finds it difficult to understand how so many young drivers find their way into F1 with such “little experience”.
“No idea what to expect out of Bortoleto, no idea,” he said.
“Formula 2 has never been a good judge of drivers.
“So, it’s pointless until they get into F1 but right now they get into F1 with so little experience.
“It’s very difficult to understand how you can get to that top level in the biggest sport in the world so quickly at such a young age with so little experience.
“I find that quite surprising.
“They get a lot of simulator work, which allows them to be quick but then you also see what happened with Antonelli in Monza.”
READ MORE: Why Franco Colapinto looks poised to make his second F1 mid-season scalp at Alpine
