Colapinto joined the Williams Racing Driver Academy in early 2023 and made his FP1 debut with the F1 team at this year’s British Grand Prix – giving him an initial taste of the FW46.

A race winner in an array of categories on the junior single-seater scene, the 21-year-old had been contesting his second season in the F2 feeder championship, holding sixth in the 2024 standings with a race win and two second-place finishes to his name.

He is the first Argentine driver in F1 for 23 years, after Gaston Mazzacane’s last appearances for Prost back in 2001, and only the second Argentine to drive for Williams, following on from his countryman Carlos Reutemann.