Feature
Paddock passes, a notebook and his mechanic: Franco Colapinto’s race weekend essentials
Every driver has those special items that they bring with them to every weekend and Franco Colapinto is no exception.
The Van Amersfoort Racing driver is here to give us the lowdown on his must-haves and brought along some very important items, from his tablet to the bracelet the Argentinian can’t be seen without and one thing that might not fit in his suitcase!
NOTEBOOK
“The first one would be my notebook – just to basically write down everything during the week to have a bit more of a clearer picture about what’s going on and then to have a summary of everything. That’s helping quite a lot.
“More bullet points, to be honest I’m pretty bad at writing as well. In school, nobody could understand my writing, so I try to be quite short and look at getting to the point straightaway. But sometimes it’s very tricky so I just do quick notes and write very short stuff. I started using it this year and it’s been quite good, although sometimes I don’t really know what to write, but you always find something.”
TABLET
“This is also very helpful during the races, it’s an iPad with a lot of data on it. It’s got some onboards so that you can see all the data we’ve gathered from Free Practice or Qualifying and have it right there for the debriefs. It’s quite an important tool that we’ve been using in the team since this year. I think it’s very useful for the drivers not to have to be writing for a very long time after every session – this is much easier!
“It’s quite a useful tool to try to make everything a bit quicker in the short period of time we have during the weekends because Friday at least is very quick. Preparation is really important because you don’t have a lot of track time, Practice is very short, and you don’t have a lot of push laps. There are many tracks on the calendar that I don’t know, so to have everything laid out – what you need to know and study – is very useful. I think it’s a step forward as well to try to be more professional, have everything in mind and make it easier for the driver.
“I do try to watch some onboards, there’s not a lot in F3 but we always get some footage and it’s quite good to have it there.”
PADDOCK PASS
“To be honest, I lose a lot of things including my pass, which everyone has to have. The less obvious thing is that I have many passes already because I lost them so many times that they have to make new passes for me almost every weekend! I’m really used to losing things or it goes missing somewhere.”
HIS MECHANIC
“I was going to bring him but unfortunately, he’s working so I couldn’t. He’s the most important part of my weekend, he’s there to prepare the car so the car doesn’t break down. Gino is really helpful with the team; he’s doing a great job this season so I’m very happy to have him.
“Of course, I would say the mechanic is the most important part for the car because if the car is not running very well, then it will affect the result. I think it’s really important to have a relationship with the people you work with because in the end you are spending most of your time with them and he’s putting in a lot of effort into making the car as quick as possible, making sure everything works in the right direction. He’s giving his best as I’m doing to give my best when driving.
“He’s really chill. He has a lot of experience and is very relaxed which helps as well, he’s a nice guy to work with!”