Argentinian racer Franco Colapinto has rejoined MP Motorsport for a fresh assault on the FIA Formula 3 Championship. The 19-year-old from Buenos Aires raced with MP during his years in Formula Renault and Formula Regional and will now once again team up with the Dutch outfit for his second season in FIA F3. Colapinto is also the latest addition to the Williams Racing Driver Academy.
The Argentinian already reacquainted himself with the MP team at the recent post-season tests at Jérez, notching up a total of 248 laps of the Spanish circuit and clocking the fastest time on the final day. This followed an extremely promising rookie FIA F3 season in which he took pole on his very first weekend before going on to score two wins and five podiums on his way to ninth in the final standings. Now as a Williams Academy driver, Colapinto is ready for more F3 success in 2023.
“I’m so pleased to have signed with MP for my second season in FIA Formula 3”, said Colapinto. “I only have fond memories of my years in Formula Renault and Formula Regional with the team, a cooperation that resulted in many wins and pole positions. I’m eager to resume the run of success that we have had and fully intend to expand on it. Next year is going to be great!”
“It’s so good to be able to welcome Franco back into the MP fold”, said MP’s team principal Sander Dorsman. “He’s been outstanding in his two years with us, and in his other two seasons since his promotion from karts Franco was always among our most daunting rivals! With a first season of FIA F3 under his belt, he now carries the weight needed for a consistently frontrunning campaign – and we’re here to help him achieve that.”
In his first full season in single-seaters in 2019, Colapinto immediately stormed to the Spanish Formula 4 title, an accomplishment that led to the Argentinian teaming up with MP for the first time. As a rookie, he went on to grab third place in the 2020 Formula Renault Eurocup, taking two wins and nine podiums in the process. Staying with MP for his first season in the Formula Regional European Championship with Alpine in 2021, two more wins, four podiums and three poles resulted in sixth in the final standings, before Colapinto embarked on his first season of FIA Formula 3. Widening his horizons in 2021, Colapinto added a sportscar campaign to his programme, his WEC, ELMS and GT World Challenge outings leading to an ELMS LMP2 class win, two more podiums as well as two pole positions.