La Derecha Diario Colapinto commented on the importance of engineers in Formula 1
The driver commented that in the vast majority of cases, the people behind the cars are the ones who make the racers' achievements possible
In his interview with Nude Project, Franco Colapinto talked about everything from his childhood and beginnings in Formula 1 to jabs at Uruguay, but one of the aspects he highlighted was his opinion on the importance of the engineers of each team.
¿Los ingenieros son más importantes que los pilotos en F1?
During his talk, Colapinto was asked the following question: "Are engineers more important than drivers in Formula 1?". The Argentine's response was blunt: "They are car races, not driver races". He added: "The driver is very important, but the engineers, the ones who make the car, are more important, to me, than the drivers".
The native of Pilar justified why he answered that way: "The last bit of difference[between competitors]is made by the driver. A world champion driver who isn't set to become a champion is very unlikely to be winning races and championships". "They are car races unfortunately", he concluded.
The trend of recent years between drivers and constructors
The idea that Colapinto presents is not new in Formula 1 and is something that can be seen in the final results of recent seasons. For example, in the last 5 seasons there have been more drivers who won together with their team than drivers who won on their own.
Champion Drivers and Champion Constructors from 2020 to 2024:
- 2020: Coincidence; Hamilton | Mercedes
- 2021: Difference; Verstappen (Red Bull) | Mercedes
- 2022: Coincidence; Verstappen | Red Bull
- 2023: Coincidence; Verstappen | Red Bull
- 2024: Difference; Verstappen (Red Bull) | McLaren
This can be due to two factors, either the champion driver didn't have a good teammate or the winning team has better cars and could win regardless of the level of their drivers.
Obviously the skill of each driver influences, but, as Colapinto said, it's the final touch for one to come first or not, the rest depends on the car and the team of engineers who build and maintain it.
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