19 May 2024 , 11:39
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Former football star Sergio Aguero led the congratulations as Williams starlet Franco Colapinto secured his first Formula 2 win.
The 20-year-old secured a dramatic victory in the Sprint at Imola as he got the better of Paul Aron on the final lap. The Estonian looked set for the win but made a crucial mistake which allowed his rival to overtake at Tamburello.
They had both survived opening-lap carnage which saw no fewer than five cars collide on the run down to the first corner. As did championship leader Zane Maloney, who finished the Sprint third.
Colapinto's victory in the short-form race was his first in F2 in just his ninth start in the category. And he received support from a high-profile fan in the form of his fellow Argentine Aguero.
The former Manchester City striker took to social media to tag Colapinto in a short post which read: "Felicitaciones crack," which translates to: "Congratulations star."
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Colapinto's first victory at Formula 3 level had also come at Imola two years earlier. And he couldn't contain his delight as he declared: "I'm super happy, first win in Formula 2.
"It's a very special day for me and for every Argentinian that has been supporting me so far. I'm super proud of the team, very proud of everyone who has been supporting me. Thank you, thank you. Thank you to all the fans and let us hope for more wins in the next few races."
Colapinto followed up that win with another strong haul of points by finishing fifth in the feature race. He and several others benefitted from the strange misfortune of others in what proved to be another bizarre event.
Briton Oliver Bearman got a great launch off the line to take the lead early on, but when he pitted from the lead on lap seven he stalled his car twice, dropping him to the back of the pack and well out of podium contention. Amaury Cordeel also had his race ruined when he pitted from the lead but a mechanic failed to properly attack his right-rear tyre.
It came loose as he set off and nearly hit another mechanic, instead colliding with another tyre on the ground and bouncing dangerously up into the air. Fortunately, no-one was struck - but a mechanic working on Pepe Marti's car in front was so distracted that the Spaniard was released from his pit box with no tyre attached at all.