Williams Formula 1 rookie Franco Colapinto admits that his debut race in Italy was a “question mark” as he had never previously run more than eight laps in the FW46.
The 21-year-old started only 18th at Monza after a mistake in Q1 cost him his quick lap.
However, he acquitted himself well in the race by finishing in 12th place, just 13.8 seconds behind team mate Alex Albon, despite some issues with his seat.
On his in-lap he received an encouraging radio message from team boss James Vowles, who said that he had driven a “fantastic” first race.
“Very positive,” Colapinto said of his first outing. “I’m happy of course with the result, I’m happy with the pace.
“It was a question mark. I have never done more than eight laps in a row before this, and I had to do 53. And I never tried the hard compound as well.
“So a lot of new things, but very happy, a very positive weekend overall. Of course, a bit frustrating, the little mistake I’ve done yesterday, but today I paid it back to the team with a really strong pace.
“My engineers stayed with me during all the session, and they helped me with the tools to keep the tyres under control. It was very positive. I’m happy, of course, with the performance.
“I need to keep working. We have now a lot of information to take home to the factory, take home to the simulator, and understand better on what do I need to work.”
He added: “It’s always tough, your first race, many unknown things. But I think we managed it well, and finishing a couple of seconds from the points was decent, so happy, and I think we have a good chance in the next races to do a good job.”
Colapinto believes that having gone to Monza with just at such short notice he will be much better prepared for the next race in Azerbaijan, although the venue is new to him.
“It’s a track that I don’t know, and it will be tough, and it will be a challenge,” he said. “I know that. But now at least it’s only one thing to learn. I already know the car from this weekend.
“[Monza] was a good weekend to do your debut. I knew the track quite well, so it was only one thing to learn this weekend, and in Baku also one thing to learn, but it’s the track.
“It’s a tough one, but now I have, I think, time enough to do a good job in the simulator, to spend time with engineers.
“Of course, the time was very limited coming into this race. The call was very, very late, and I couldn’t do all the prep. In the next few races I’m going to be able nail it on that, and arrive more prepared with the car, with the settings.”
