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Colapinto gets Abu Dhabi F2 drive ahead of full 2024 season

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    • Franco Colapinto, F2

    Franco Colapinto (ARG) MP Motorsport celebrates his second position on the podium. 04.06.2023. FIA Formula 2 Championship, Rd 7, Feature Race, Barcelona, Spain, Sunday.

    Williams junior Franco Colapinto will make his F2 debut in Abu Dhabi with MP Motorsport replacing Jehan Daruvala ahead of full 2024 season.

    Argentinian racer Franco Colapinto will remain with MP Motorsport as he moves up to the FIA Formula 2 Championship for 2024. This year, the tight bond between the Williams Racing Driver Academy member and the Dutch team resulted in a strong run to fourth place in the FIA F3 series. Preceding his 2024 debut, Colapinto will get his first taste of F2 in the final 2023 round in Abu Dhabi.Colapinto has been an MP driver for much of his single-seater career, and by staying with the team, the Argentinian aims to build on a relationship that led to two wins and five podiums in this year’s hotly contested FIA Formula 3 Championship. As part of his preparation, Colapinto will join MP’s F2 squad in Abu Dhabi, where he will take part in the three-day post-season test on the Yas Marina circuit. Before that, he will have his first race experience in F2 by taking part in the final round of this year’s championship already.

    “I’m absolutely thrilled to be moving up to Formula 2 with MP”, said Colapinto. “MP are proven race winners in the category, and staying with them feels absolutely right. It’s a familiar atmosphere for me, and it will be to our advantage that we know each other so well as I enter my debut season in the category. I very much look forward to the fresh challenge of a new series, with a brand new car to help develop. I can’t wait to get in the car in Abu Dhabi and then work with the team to be ready for a long and challenging 2024 season.”

    “It’s great news that we are able to announce Franco’s promotion to our F2 team so early”, said MP’s team principal, Sander Dorsman. “This will give us a headstart in our preparations for an exciting 2024 F2 season in which we all start from zero, with the new F2 car offering everyone a new baseline to work from. Retaining Franco helps us to maintain stability in that transition, apart from the fact that he’s become a member of the MP family and is an extremely quick and talented driver.”

    In his first full season in single-seaters in 2019, Colapinto stormed to the Spanish Formula 4 title right off the bat, an accomplishment leading 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 by 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, claiming two wins on his way to ninth. The Argentinian then rejoined MP once more for a highly successful second season of F3.

    [Note: The story is as per press release]