Oscar Piastri has proclaimed it is a “bold move” from Williams to fit Franco Colapinto in at the team in place of Logan Sargeant for the remainder of the F1 season.
The swap occurred on the build-up to the Italian Grand Prix with Colapinto making his F1 debut at Monza last weekend.
Sargeant endured a difficult campaign at the Grove-based squad and was heavily rumoured to be on the way out following his heavy crash during practice at Zandvoort following the summer break.
Piastri, who partnered Sargeant at PREMA Racing when they went wheel-to-wheel for the 2020 FIA Formula 3 title, asserted Sargeant had more potential than what was on show in F1.
“I sent him a text [on the build up to Monza], and he seems OK,” Piastri told media including RacingNews365. “It was a little bit of a shock, obviously it wasn’t an easy time for him in F1.
“I think it was much more difficult for him than maybe I expected it to be, going into F1. For me, his potential was much greater than what was on show in F1, for whatever reason it might be.
“But I know first-hand, being his teammate in the junior categories, racing him in basically everything, I know how quick he is. I don’t think the change was completely unexpected.”
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Colapinto makes the step up from Formula 2, where he sits sixth in the standings during his rookie campaign.
His appointment to the drive took some by surprise as Mick Schumacher and Liam Lawson were the names most intensely linked with Sargeant's seat.
Piastri stated the decision to field Colapinto, who made his FP1 debut earlier this year at Silverstone, is an audacious one from Williams.
“It's quite a bold move to put Franco in, I would say, but best of luck to him,” Piastri stated.
“Just a shame, for whatever reason he [Sargeant] wasn’t able to show everything he’s got, because in the junior categories he was genuinely one of the quickest guys I went up against.
“So I think his potential is much greater than what some people see.”
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