Vowles denies sponsorship deal with Colapinto: 'I'll make it very clear'

Franco Colapinto has been Williams' new driver since last race weekend. The Argentine replaced Logan Sargeant, who was expelled from the Formula 1 seat. Rumours circulated that Colapinto was involved in a sponsorship deal. But team boss James Vowles immediately quashed these rumours.

"What I'll make very clear to everyone here is no sponsorship was linked to signing him. Actually, we signed him at the point of not knowing anything in the future," Vowles immediately revealed.

In doing so, Vowles did indicate that there were Argentine sponsors working with Williams, but that it had nothing to do with Colapinto. "A number of Argentine companies, of which there are many, are calling, and they're paying market rates for stickers on the car, fundamentally. So, it's not being related to Franco. They want to be part of the journey, and part of the journey beyond 2024, just to be clear as well. I hope many of you will see where we end up. But you'll see stickers appearing on the car around Baku time. I'm not sure how many at the moment, because genuinely we are getting huge amounts of interest from Argentina," said Vowles who reiterated that the sponsors are not linked to Colapinto.

"But at the point of choosing Franco, there was no finance involved in it. And to be really blunt on it as well, there was finance being offered on the table from other sources. That's not of interest. This is about investing in our academy and in our future," Vowles added.

This article has been created in collaboration with Jenny Garnett.

Want more Formula 1? Then follow GPblog on our various social media channels!

X | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube