Montoya: If I were Williams, I would keep Colapinto as a reserve

The sensation and instant darling of the F1 paddock with his stunning performances for Williams after being promoted (against all expectations) from relative oblivion to the limelight by replacing the out-of-his-depth Logan Sargeant. From Formula 2 'obscurity' Colapinto had arrived.

His stunning drive to P8 in Baku, only his second Grand Prix start, then P10 at Circuit of the Americas meant Colapinto fever was in full swing. Argentina descended on Interlagos to cheer on their new star. But that's when it got pear-shaped.

A crash in Brazil, then another in Las Vegas and also Qatar, not only substantially enhanced Williams's already hefty crash bill it also snuffed out Colapinto as F1's fickle flavour of the month. Thereafter he was doomed to drive the un-updated version of a pretty bad car that only made it worse. His 'wow factor' shares plunged.

Hard to believe a guy supposedly courted by Red Bull after a couple of races, was soon after F1's forgotten driver of the year, such was his flash in the pan.

He always knew he had no team for 2025, so Colapinto knew his fate before he began his F1 rookie career at the 2024 Italian Grand Prix. But had he followed up P10 with another P8 and maybe even a P6 instead of crashing the car too often, he would've made a better case for himself and that Red Bull drive they can't seem to fill.

Weighing in on his fellow South American, Grand Prix winner Juan Pablo Montoya said: "Franco Colapinto has done a really good job. Speed-wise, he's done a really good job. The problem is, he's the kind of character from the outside that he just focused on racing and he doesn't care what people think.

"That's very easy to do when you're not in F1. But when you're in F1, whether you like it or not, everybody's talking about it. And especially when you start running well, you start paying attention to what people are saying. Everybody is like, telling him, ‘You’re the man. ‘

"All of a sudden you crash, you crash, you go off, you crash. At some point the demeanour of the people that you're working with changes. And that's where it becomes difficult because at some point you're going to have to care.

"And that's where it becomes tough because your speed is what got you there. You cannot change your approach that got you the job. Because as soon as you start worrying about crashing, your speed's going to go away.

"So, you can think, ‘I can drive slow and not crash, or go faster, then crash.’ And neither of them work. But you need to be fast and figure out how to avoid trouble," ventured Montoya.

As for Colapinto going from hero-to-zero so rapidly, Montoya explained: "The biggest problem you have in F1 is people just remember what you did in the last race. And if you think about Colapinto right now, you start looking back, it's just crash, crash, crash, crash. And it's hard. It's tough.

"If they’d managed to get something sorted before Mexico, I think he would have a job. Today the chances of something are getting smaller. I think he will be in a reserve role.

If I was Williams and I like Colapinto as much as they look like they do, I would keep Colapinto as a reserve and see what happens between Sainz and Albon," added Montoya, referencing Carlos Sainz joining the team.

After 'owning' Sargeant throughout their time together (41 races) at Williams, Albon received a huge wake-up call when Colapinto was peaking.

Montoya reckons: "It seems that Albon under pressure struggles more than others. If Albon starts having a horrible year, then you have Colapinto to put in. With Colapinto having done a good job, you're not going to let him just get away and see what happens.

"It's the reality of this sport. You normally get a shot, if you're lucky you'll get a shot and in that shot you need to perform. And you need to be outstanding," added the Colombian, a seven-time Grand Prix winner. (