Could Franco Colapinto one day race in his home country?
A delegation from Argentina met with Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali at Interlagos on Friday with a view to the country hosting a race in the future.
Domenicali spoke to Daniel Scioli, the country’s secretary of tourism, environment and sports and a former vice-president, and Cesar Carman, the president of the Automovil Club Argentino.
Friday’s discussion was an exploratory chat, and at the moment it looks unlikely a slot will be available on the calendar in the near future, especially with a queue of prospective venues wanting to host races.
However the idea has some momentum as Franco Colapinto’s arrival at Williams has supercharged interest in the sport in his home country, with thousands of fans travelling to the Austin, Mexico City and Sao Paolo events.
Inevitably that has revived the idea of bringing back the Argentine GP after earlier attempts – which didn’t benefit from the presence of a local star on the grid – failed to materialise.
The plan is to return to the Autodromo de Buenos Aires, which was last used for F1 in 1995-’98. However the intention is to utilise a rebuilt version of the original and longer track that was used sporadically between 1953 and 1981, rather than the shorter nineties layout.
Despite the presence of a minister at Interlagos the event would be backed by the private sector, rather than by the central or local government.
“Stefano is a great man, and really we appreciate a lot this conversation,” former powerboat racer Scioli told me.
“It was very positive. What Franco is doing, not only in the circuit but outside, is great. We will study this very carefully. We will have private investment.”
Carman conceded that a lot of work would be required to bring the former GP venue up to modern standards.
“Stefano was very nice with us,” said the ACA boss. “He says that he would really like to have another Grand Prix, but it’s going to take a lot of work from us, and we need to start to start working. And we have to do a lot of things.
“We have to improve the racetrack. We have to take it to Grade I. As I said we have to do a lot of things, but we are very optimistic. I don’t want to give dates, because I don’t know, but I think 2027-‘28 is more realistic.”
Regarding the finances he said: “Daniel has already told me that he has the finance from the private sector.
“The current government says that the government doesn’t need to do what the private sector can do better!”
Carman confirmed that Colapinto has had a major impact in the short time that he has been on the F1 grid.
“I think that a lot of things are happening because of Franco,” he said. “Franco has a disruptive effect on us, on Argentina, and the Argentine fans are very enthusiastic about having Franco racing in Argentina. So everything is joined. Things are aligning. It’s like a dream.”
Adam Cooper F1 