Franco Colapinto: My Greatest Influences

9 August 2023

MP Motorsport and Williams Academy driver Franco Colapinto has slowly but surely clawed his way back into the top five in the Championship prior to the break.

It’s not too surprising given his huge admiration for perseverance and positive mentality. It comes from several people both in his life and who he admires. Colapinto explains all to us.

Jamie Campbell-Walter, Manager

“I would say he’s been the biggest influence on not only myself but also my racing career. He was a racing driver in the past and then he became a driver coach and manager after. Even though when I started racing I didn’t really know him, I met him when I was racing in F4, he was that person that gave a big boost to my career in trying to succeed. He gained the most amount of trust with what I was doing even though I had zero budget and I was really, really struggling to race in Europe. He was that person that I would say changed my life in Europe.

“I’m going to be forever grateful to him for that and for all that he’s given me and is still giving me. But also, he makes my mentality change. Sometimes when I think things are really hard and I think we’re struggling, he can take that and turn it into a positive and make something that looks bad not be so bad or be even quite good. It’s really changed my approach but also made a big impact on the results I’m getting and where I’m racing. I’m super grateful for that. It saved my career and I remember experiences we’ve had together and all the years we’ve spent in motorsport working together, he’s much, much more than an important person to have next to you. He’s someone I’ve needed in the past. It’s why I continue to race in Europe and climb the final steps to Formula 1.”

Kristian Blummenfelt, Triathlete

“The second one is not so much regarding motorsport, I would say it’s more sports in general. I’m a really big fan of sports and a big fan of how to be more efficient and how to perform better. Not only driving but in daily life and how that process can also bring better results. He’s a triathlete and ironman and one of the best in the world. It’s interesting how they’re able to develop the body and are able to every year, find a little bit more to how they can be more efficient with this and that. I think it’s amazing how they’re able to go through so much pain, sacrifices and struggle to get to where they want to be.

“My goal is to be the best racing driver possible for the rest of my life and possibly get to Formula 1. For them, it’s a constant fight against themselves because the body is everything in that discipline. It’s about how you perform and how much you can extract from the human body’s potential. I’m just really impressed by that stuff. I love to see how the process works, how they work through things and I think it’s one of the sports where you sacrifice the most. To see all these people taking the most out of the human body, for me, it’s really, really cool. I think it’s an influence on me because of my training and how I see the body performing.”

Gustavo Ruiz, Coach

“I’ve been with him for a really long time, more or less since I was 12 years old. He’s been important in all of this process from coming to Europe for the first time to where I am now. I’ve changed a lot since then just because of how I’ve worked with him for so long. He’s changed completely my mindset and it’s been really helpful in many difficult situations. I think I’ve improved a lot compared to my younger self so because of that, he’s a super close person to me and I’m super happy to have him on my side. It’s important to have good people around you that you trust and support, and he’s one of the main ones.”