On Tuesday, Williams announced that it has parted ways with Logan Sargeant effective immediately. The American, who would lose his seat at the end of the season anyway, will be replaced by newcomer Franco Colapinto for the remaining nine races of the 2024 Formula 1 season. The 21-year-old Argentine is currently racing in Formula 2 and has only completed one official F1 practice session, but he will be thrown in at the deep end this weekend. Colapinto will of course need a super license for his racing debut, but it seems a formality that he will actually get his ‘F1 driver’s license’.
That is striking, because at first glance Colapinto does not seem to meet the requirements for obtaining a super license. The main stumbling block would be the number of super license points earned. Drivers can earn these points in the various feeder classes below F1. Anyone who collects 40 points in a period of the three most recent years and meets a few other requirements can look forward to a super license. Strikingly enough, Colapinto did not collect enough points in this period – 2021 to 2023 – to secure a super license. In these three years, the driver from Pilar collected 27.5 points, well short of the 40 required points.
Franco Colapinto Super License Points Between 2021 and 2023
Year
Class
Final ranking
Super License Points
2023 FIA Formula 3 P4 15 points 2022 FIA Formula 3 P9 3 points 2021 Asian Le Mans Series P3 4.5 points Formula Regional European P6 5 points
Total
27.5 points
How can Colapinto still get a super license? To answer that question, we only have to look at an exception that the FIA made during the corona pandemic. If 2021 is part of the period with three consecutive years, the motorsport federation will take the three best years from a four-year period into account for the purpose of issuing a super license. In the case of Colapinto, this means that in addition to 2021, 2022 and 2023, 2020 also counts for the calculations. That year, the future F1 debutant scored well with a third place in both the Formula Renault Eurocup and the Toyota Racing Series. That earned him a total of seventeen super license points. Together with the results of 2021 and 2023, that is enough to exceed the limit of 40 points and thus qualify for a super license.
Colapinto Super License Points After Applying Exception
Year
Class
Final ranking
Super License Points
2023 FIA Formula 3 P4 15 points 2021 Asian Le Mans Series P3 4.5 points Formula Regional European P6 5 points 2020 Formula Renault Eurocup P3 12 points Toyota Racing Series P3 5 points
Total
41.5 points
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