Franco Colapinto has been bundled out of a fan meet-and-greet by his security. The event was set up by his Williams team in Home Depot Las Vegas as an opportunity for fans to meet the Argentine F1 star prior to the race weekend getting underway.
But as video footage shows, the frenzied fans became a little too hysterical and his bodyguards had to step in to get him out of there safely.
Franco Colapinto is undoubtedly the hottest rookie to join the Formula 1 grid this season. Subbing-in for the American Logan Sargeant at Williams from the Italian race at Monza onwards, Colapinto became the first Argentine to race in F1 for over 20 years.
And his rookie season has caught the attention of everyone in the motorsport world, for all the right reasons. He finished 12th on his debut at Monza and then scored 4 points by finishing 8th at his second race in Azerbaijan.
Since then he’s beaten his highly respected Williams teammate Alex Albon at every race, and scored one more point by finishing 10th at the US Grand Prix at COTA.
Unlocking a new frenzied fanbase
Colapinto is the only South American driver on the grid. He’s the first Argentine to compete in the top level of Motorsport since Gaston Mazzacane’s last race at the San Marino GP in 2001. He follows in the footsteps of the great Argentine 5-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio.
The last South American driver to compete in F1 was the Brazilian Pietro Fittapaldi who stepped in for two races with HAAS in 2020. Before that, Felipe Massa was the last full-time contender from South America, another Brazilian. His last season was 2017.
So Colapinto joining the sport, and immediately having some fantastic results, has unlocked the fanbase of a whole continent. That was evidenced at the Brazilian Grand Prix where an estimated 10,000 passionate Argentinian fans travelled to watch their home hero. That’s around one sixth of the total number of fans at the race.
🇦🇷 Argentinian Franco Colapinto fans bringing football atmosphere to Formula 1… and in Brazil no less! “Franco, mi buen amigo…!” pic.twitter.com/yPQW6qFomi
— Tears at La Bombonera // Dame Bola (@BomboneraTears) November 2, 2024
Links with Red Bull
As it stands, Franco Colapinto doesn’t have a seat on the F1 grid for 2025. He was brought in as a mid-season replacement for the lacklustre Logan Sargeant, but Carlos Sainz is due to take his place in 2025. Teammate Alex Albon is also staying with Williams.
That means that even though Franco has built up an incredible fanbase in a very short amount of time, at the moment everyone’s wondering whether we’ll even see him race next year.
However, there appears to be a Red Bull shaped lifeline. Sergio Perez has had a dire season and is expected to be replaced next year, but that has not yet been announced.
VCARB rookie Liam Lawson looks like the most likely replacement. If that happens, a seat will be vacated at the Red Bull junior team that could have Colapinto’s name on it. He would have to be released by Williams which some media outlets suggest may come at a pricetag of around 20 Millions Euros.
Colapinto has ‘more than earned the chance’ at Red Bull seat:
— This is Formula 1 (@ThisIsFormu1a1) November 11, 2024
– Amid rumors surrounding Red Bull team principal Christian Horner’s visit to the Williams garage in Brazil, speculation has risen about Franco Colapinto’s potential to replace Sergio Perez for the upcoming season.… pic.twitter.com/6kw8KuMa0p
A race in Argentina?
The immediate swell of support for the Argentine driver has been extreme. So extreme, that the Argentinian tourism minister has been meeting with F1 chief Stefano Domenicali to discuss the possibilities of hosting a race in his country.
As reported by Motorsport.com, the tourism minister Daniel Scioli said after his meeting with F1 bosses “There is a lot of hard work to be done in order to reach the objective. We have to work on the race track, on all the requirements of an event as sophisticated as this one.”
Las Vegas meet-and-greet chaos
This weekend is the Las Vegas Grand Prix where the F1 track routes it way along the world famous Strip.
Most F1 teams have arranged times for fans to meet their drivers at various hotels and casinos around the city. Williams, along with their sponsor Duracell, arranged an opportunity for their fans to meet Franco Colapinto at a slightly less glamorous Home Depot DIY store just a few streets over from the Strip.
Despite the fact this wasn’t a very well publicised meet-up, word quickly spread amongst the F1 fans who’d traveled to Vegas and Franco’s fanbase started flocking to Home Depot.
James Lyau / Facebook
As Colapinto appeared, fans could be hearing shouting, screaming, whilsting and even chanting for him. Make sure you’ve got the sound on for this next video!
James Lyau / Facebook
Franco appeared infront of fans, flanked by his bodyguard. Some F1 fans questioned why he needed a bodyguard at what people assumed would be a fairly low-key meet-and greet. But when it was time for Franco to leave the store, his security guards had to step in to action.
By the end of the event, estimates suggested somewhere between 500 and 1000 fans turned up at the Home Depot meet-and-greet.
Upon trying to leave most fans had gathered outside the store. Franco’s Williams team members and bodyguards had to fend off the flailing arms of fans all desperate to get that little bit closer to the Argentine star.
Flo Rogers / Facebook
Colapinto made it through the hysterical crowd unscathed, but it just goes to show the incredible fanbase he’s already built up. Let’s home we see him on the grid next year.
