As Franco Colapinto has impressed the Formula 1 paddock at Williams as a mid-season replacement for Logan Sargeant, there has been plenty of calls to keep him on the grid for 2025.

But with no room at the Grove-based squad, as Carlos Sainz comes in alongside Alex Albon, the team has been aiming to help the Argentinian find a spot elsewhere.

Over recent weeks speculation linking him to Red Bull has grown stronger, as pressure continues to mount on Sergio Perez while the team’s junior programme remains disjointed.

So, would Colapinto to Red Bull actually work? Our writers provide their takes.

Colapinto has attracted plenty of support in South America

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Why Colapinto partnering Verstappen isn’t as crazy as it sounds – Alex Kalinauckas

What a journey Franco Colapinto has been on in not even three months of Formula 1. From relative obscurity in Formula 2, to being a candidate to partnxer Max Verstappen at Red Bull in 2025. Such a bold move would be typical Red Bull driver crowbarring, but it’s not quite as out there as it might seem.

First off, there has been genuine consideration within the Red Bull camp for such a move. It is understood to be something team principal Christian Horner is pushing rather than coming from Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko, who understandably wants Liam Lawson promoted to benefit the Red Bull Junior Team.

But that previously well-oiled machine is now jammed to the extent it’s clearly broken. Adding Colapinto in at the top would allow time for it to be repaired, with Lawson still given a chance to shine in F1 anyway.

A bigger problem for Red Bull to overcome in any move for Colapinto – at either of its squads – is Williams’s asking price. Rumours have this at $20 million, with Red Bull uninterested in a loan deal for the Argentine.

But, if a deal can be struck, the upsides are considerable for Red Bull.

It is already facing a $20m hit to its prize money for 2024 – given it’s on-track to finish third in the constructors’ championship this year thanks to Sergio Perez failing to get anywhere near close enough to Verstappen, rather than winning as it did in 2022 and 2023. Colapinto also brings sponsors, as Williams is currently enjoying, and massive interest from Latin American.

At the Mexican GP, this writer saw reporters from media outlets in that market arranged several ranks deep every time Colapinto spoke. Plus, interested parties in his home country are already expressing interest in reviving the Argentine Grand Prix. So far, however, it is understood this hasn’t got as far as a formal enquiry being made to Formula One Management about a possible calendar slot…

Franco Colapinto, Williams FW46

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

While neither Lawson or Colapinto have historical baggage with Verstappen that might risk upsetting the Dutchman and his camp at Red Bull, there is little to separate them on pure speed either. In terms of their gaps to their current team-mates, Albon is on average 0.179s quicker than Colapinto in qualifying (based on dry sessions only, capped at the point either driver exited) and Yuki Tsunoda is just 0.034s ahead of Lawson by the same metric.

And neither is a certain to be any upgrade on Perez. But this is where driver mental resilience comes into consideration. This is the reason Red Bull won’t promote Tsunoda from RB – it doesn’t think he’ll be able to handle the demands of being team-mate to a true F1 great.

In his six grand prix weekends so far, Colapinto has proved he can cut it with much less prep, even compared to Lawson. He’s gone from shaking slightly facing the media at Monza to a somewhat swaggering paddock presence, which isn’t meant negatively. Crashes such as those he had in Brazil – including an awkward one behind the safety car – can’t continue, however.

Yes, the pressure is off to a certain extent given technically all the seats for 2025 are already gone, but he’s still handling the F1 pressure cooker remarkably well.

This is key for Red Bull. All it needs is a team-mate to get closer to Verstappen – say, with such an average gap as Colapinto has to Albon – and be able to handle the burden of being pushed relentlessly hard from across the garage and, potentially, beaten all the time.

Based on what he’s shown so far, Colapinto could well be the answer to a problem Red Bull has struggled to solve ever since Daniel Ricciardo walked out back in 2018.

Colapinto has put in strong performances that have attracted the attention of Red Bull

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

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Ignoring the hype, Colapinto isn’t ready for Red Bull… yet – Oleg Karpov

Hype is a funny thing. It’s great because it can open a lot of doors. But when it’s gone, they tend to close just as quickly.

There’s definitely a lot of hype around Franco Colapinto right now, and the very fact that Red Bull’s team boss is even considering the Argentinian for 2025 says a lot about the shock waves he’s sent through the paddock since his sudden and unexpected arrival on the F1 grid at Monza.

Because it’s not just Colapinto who’s arrived in F1, it’s the whole country with him in the form of stickers on Williams cars, an avalanche of Argentine fans invading Sao Paulo and Williams’ social media channels, and Argentine politicians suddenly talking about F1. Politicians wouldn’t be politicians if they didn’t try to jump on the hype bandwagon, would they?

This constant noise around Colapinto is great for everyone. Williams, F1 itself – and it can still do a lot of good for any team that signs him up for 2025.

But if Colapinto does join Red Bull, it will be him sharing the garage with Max Verstappen, not the fans and politicians (although stickers may follow), and there’s simply no evidence yet that he’s ready for one of the toughest jobs in F1. It’s not even that it’s too early for Colapinto to jump into one of the best cars on the grid, although that’s probably a valid argument too – there’s just not enough factual data to prove he’s up to the task.

From what we’ve seen of Colapinto so far, it’s safe to say that he’s a better match for Alex Albon than Logan Sargeant. It should also be taken into account that Williams also improved in the second half of the championship, but making it to Q3 and scoring his first points in Baku was impressive. Being ahead of Albon in qualifying also added to the overall excitement, but there’s also the hard fact that Albon didn’t actually get to do his final lap due to the team’s mistake.

Colapinto has shown flashes of speed but also suffered some setbacks

Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images

The weekend in Singapore was also decent, and scoring points in Austin is definitely worth highlighting. But does that mean he’s ready for a top car? Of course not. It’s probably enough to say that he’s proven that he’s good enough to be in F1. But that’s about it. At least for now.

The circumstances of his debut, jumping into the car mid-season, make for a better overall impression although he’s not the first rookie in F1 to have done well when thrown into the sea to swim recently, and we should probably stop being so surprised at how the new generation of drivers cope with such challenges.

Nowadays, it’s usually time that tells you more. There was a lot of hype around Yuki Tsunoda after his first race in Bahrain, and Nyck de Vries’ spectacular performance at Monza in 2022 earned him praise for the next few months, before the hype train stopped and went into reverse after just a handful of races in 2023.

Colapinto still has a lot to prove. Qualifying margins against Albon in Italy and Mexico are less talked about now. So are crashes. But that’s the nature of today’s media landscape, where Sargeant would have been eaten alive for crashing under the safety car and yet for Colapinto, still in his honeymoon phase in F1, there are still excuses.

The fact that Horner is even considering hiring Colapinto probably says more about the extent of Red Bull’s driver problem than it does about Colapinto’s F1 debut. If it were for sporting reasons alone, Horner would probably be walking into the Williams hospitality to talk to James Vowles about some other driver, be it Carlos Sainz or even Albon. Because if those in the Verstappen camp really can’t abide the idea of a 2015 Toro Rosso reunion, it’s surely Albon who should be higher up on Horner’s list of drivers to buy from Williams. He’s been there before, he knows what it’s like to be next to Verstappen but he’s got a lot more experience now.

But F1 isn’t always about performance. There are probably other reasons why Colapinto is on Horner’s radar. And there’s a good chance he could help Red Bull keep its Latin American sponsors happy in the event of Perez’s release. But whether he can be an asset from a sporting point of view is a question that is impossible to answer at the moment.

Colapinto could be a future superstar. It’s just that there’s little evidence to back up that claim right now.

Will Colapinto say goodbye to F1 at the end of the year?

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

MAN UTD legend Paul Scholes realised he had to retire for the final time after Gareth Bale ran him ragged.

Scholes initially called time on his illustrious playing career at the end of the 2010-11 season after winning the title for the 10th time.

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But the Old Trafford ace was tempted out of retirement just seven months later to help Sir Alex Ferguson’s injury crisis at the time.

After returning in January 2012, Scholes went on to play for another 16 months before eventually hanging up his boots for the final time in May 2013 at the age of 38.

But Scholes revealed it was a “mistake” to agree to return and “knew” it was time for him to step aside after a particularly humbling afternoon against Spurs star Bale.

Bale had become one of the most devastating players in the Premier League and would soon join Real Madrid in a deal worth £85m.

Scholes told Football’s Greatest podcast: “I actually thought the first time I retired would be the end.

“I came back for six months originally and then the manager wanted me to stay for another season and I think that was a mistake.

“I think it was the first home game of my last season, against Tottenham. I remember I didn’t actually play that badly but I remember playing against Gareth Bale.

“Now this could have happened to me when I was 21 but he was just starting to burst and he was flying.

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“I remember him going past me two or three times and I knew I couldn’t compete with that, I had absolutely no chance.

“I was in the ice bath later and I could’ve been in there for two days, I could barely move for three or four days.

“That’s when I knew that was the end. It was a mistake to play that season.”

Bale scored in Tottenham’s 3-2 win at Old Trafford in 2012, a game which convinced Scholes he should retire for good.

Scholes would play in Ferguson’s final home game as manager of United – but he wasn’t all that keen.

He added: “It was a special moment (to come on for his final game) but I didn’t really want it, I wanted to go away quietly.

“I didn’t even want to play the last game and even that confirmed I was doing the right thing.”

Ranked by his peers as one of the finest midfielders of his generation, it’s not hard to imagine why Ferguson requested for one of his favourites to come out of retirement.

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Scholes made his comeback in a 3-2 win over rivals Manchester City in the FA Cup and also revealed how he had to go to the local sports shop to pick up a new pair of boots for the match.

Some players didn’t know he was coming back until they saw his shirt in the dressing room.

He made 17 appearances that season as United lost out to City for the league title on the final day of the season.

The 66-capped England star went onto win another Prem title with United the following season – his 11th of his career.

Since retiring, Scholes has become a well-respected football pundit, working on TNT Sports – and Premier League Productions.

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Sunderland defender Trai Hume says Northern Ireland need to “back up” their last Nations League performance and try to win their group as they prepare to face Belarus on Friday.

Michael O’Neill’s side beat Bulgaria 5-0 in their last match and now sit top of League C Group 3 going into their final two group games.

“It was a great result. The fans enjoyed it and we enjoyed it,” Hume told BBC Sport NI.

“It’s hard to win games like that and it’ll be hard to back it up but the most important thing is to try and get the three points.”

After Belarus visit Windsor Park on Friday night, Northern Ireland complete their campaign against Luxembourg away on Monday.

O’Neill’s side have established a good run of results at home, having won their past four matches in Belfast – a run that Hume is keen to extend.

“Nearly every time we play at Windsor Park, we get a result or put in a good performance so we just need to keep that up,” he said.

“The fans are brilliant as always so they just need to keep on pushing us and hopefully we can keep winning for them.”

Victory will bring more than just home pride for Northern Ireland.

Securing top spot in their Nations League group could open up a back-door route to the 2026 World Cup finals through the play-offs.

“We need to try and back up [our last performances] as best we can going into these next two games and try and win the group,” Hume added.

“The Euro campaign didn’t go the way we probably wanted it to go with a lot of performances and a lot of results, so building off the back of that I think we’ve done really well the past 18 months.

“It’s a young group and we just need to keep on getting better.”

Sacha Fenestraz is poised for a return to Super Formula in 2025 with Toyota’s flagship TOM’S team, Motorsport.com understands.

The Franco-Argentinian driver is set to replace Ukyo Sasahara in the #37 TOM’S car as part of a wider deal with Toyota that would also see him race in SUPER GT next season.

Fenestraz admitted when speaking to Motorsport.com in the wake of the news that Nissan would be replacing him with Norman Nato in Formula E that returning to Japanese motorsport was his most likely option.

Both Toyota and Nissan are understood to have made Fenestraz offers to race in Super Formula and SUPER GT, where he raced in 2020-22 before moving to Formula E.

Nissan’s Japanese arm – which is almost entirely separate from its European-based Formula E operation – was prepared to offer Fenestraz a seat in its works NISMO SUPER GT squad, plus his old Super Formula berth at Kondo Racing.

But Fenestraz’s unhappiness with the way his Formula E tenure ended, with Nissan dropping him with two years left to run on his contract, is thought to have been a factor in him pursuing a reunion with Toyota.

Sacha Fenestraz, KONDO RACING

Photo by: Masahide Kamio

Sasahara’s immediate Super Formula future is unclear after a difficult season in which he failed to score points, while team-mate Tsuboi took the title.

However, he has been linked to the second seat at Kondo Racing, and could be handed a chance to audition to replace incumbent Kazuto Kotaka, who had a similarly difficult year.

Few other changes are expected in the Toyota stable, with the Inging, KCMG and Rookie Racing teams all looking set for unchanged line-ups.

Team Impul is likely to promote Toyota junior Hibiki Taira to a full-time drive after he was drafted in to fill the seat vacated by Theo Pourchaire for three weekends this year.

Fraga favourite to replace Yamamoto at Nakajima Racing

Igor Fraga has emerged as the frontrunner to take over the seat vacated by three-time champion Naoki Yamamoto, who announced his retirement from Super Formula earlier this month.

Gran Turismo esports star Fraga has spent this season as a reserve driver for Nakajima Racing, which followed the relaunch of his real-life racing career in Super Formula Lights in 2023 and SUPER GT’s lower GT300 class.

The former Red Bull junior previously won the Toyota Racing Series in 2020, beating current Formula 1 drivers Liam Lawson and Franco Colapinto to the title, but was released from the energy drink giant’s scheme after just one season amid a difficult campaign in FIA Formula 3.

He then spent two seasons focused only on his virtual racing activities before relocating to Japan, where he was born to Brazilian parents and spent the early part of his life.

Fraga is poised to drive for Nakajima Racing in next month’s rookie test at Suzuka, in what could be regarded as a final audition for a promotion to a race drive.

Iwasa poised to continue with Mugen

Ayumu Iwasa, TEAM MUGEN

Photo by: Masahide Kamio

Elsewhere, Ayumu Iwasa looks set to stay on at Team Mugen for a second season despite the team’s relationship with Red Bull coming to an end.

Iwasa finished fifth overall in his rookie season with three second-place finishes in between his commitments for Red Bull’s F1 teams, which included a first FP1 outing with RB in April’s Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko previously stated in an interview with Motorsport.com’s Japanese edition that he expected Iwasa to stay in Super Formula in 2025.

Meanwhile, Honda junior Shun Koide may be handed the chance to step up to Super Formula next year, as he leads the Super Formula Lights standings with one round to go.

Koide appears to be a candidate to replace Iori Kimura at B-Max Racing, although there is still a possibility that he could figure in Nakajima Racing’s plans.

The line-ups for the Suzuka rookie test on December 11-13 are likely to provide a strong indication of who will drive where in 2025.

Kamui Kobayashi is expected to miss the test for KCMG as he attends the FIA Prize Giving gala in Kigali, Rwanda, even though it looks likely he will continue to race for the team.

ROY KEANE has blasted Alejandro Garnacho for his refusal to celebrate his goal against Leicester.

The winger was on the end of criticism from a Manchester United fan outside of Old Trafford before the Europa League clash against PAOK.

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Garnacho, who was named in the starting XI for that game, went over to takes photos and write autographs for fans before the clash.

However, one fan who recorded the interaction told him: “You’ve got to pass better today, yeah please? Pass better today, score a goal, and work on your first touch as well.”

The 20-year-old responded by saying: “Why aren’t you playing?”

Then during the next game against Leicester, Garnacho came off the bench to cap off a 3-0 win with a stunning finish into the top corner.

But Garncho had a muted celebration following the goal, with captain Bruno Fernandes explaining: “Garnacho scored a banger but didn’t celebrate like he should because he thinks he has lost faith from some fans.

“I told him people will always moan but lots of people like you and enjoy what you do.

“I told him to celebrate, it was something special. He is a special player, we have difference makers.

“They are the ones who win us games. We want them to score every game but that isn’t going to happen.”

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However, the Argentine’s lack of celebration has sparked fury from some former stars, including Red Devils legend Keane.

Appearing on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet, Keane and co were asked: “What advice would you give to young players when they get hassled by their own fans?”

In response, the 53-year-old fumed: “If you can’t celebrate a goal, there is something drastically wrong with this game.

“Whatever has gone on off the pitch for any player – it could be family stuff – you work all week, you’re playing the game to score a goal.

“When you score a goal, there should be nothing else on your mind. You’ve got fans who have travelled, paid fortunes to get there, and he’s on about people having a go at him.

Ian Wright was more compassionate towards the youngster, saying: “For a 20-year-old, he’s still going through the journey of what he’s doing.

“That [fans’ criticism] affected him to the point where he didn’t celebrate. That’s how much it affected him. He scored a great goal, but he’s worried about that.

“It’s the saddest thing in the world when someone scores and they don’t celebrate because of something that has happened.”

Keane added: “People make sacrifices to travel to watch Man Utd, he scores a brilliant goal, they are having a tough time – and if a younger player can’t enjoy scoring a goal for Man Utd, then get a job somewhere else.

“If I’m working in a factory someone would give me stick in the factory.

“You want a player to celebrate with the fans… Don’t listen to that idiot, there’s them f***ing idiots everywhere. But when you score a goal that should be gone in that moment.

“If he’s going to be upset with that, get a different job.”

Ruben Amorim is ‘Mourinho 2.0’ who turned Sporting from ‘walking dead’ into Portuguese champs… he can revive Man Utd

WHEN Ruben Amorim took charge of Sporting Lisbon in March 2020, one club official compared their situation to the “walking dead”, writes Jordan Davies.

Optimism and hope was at an all-time low.

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But the Amorim-effect was almost instantaneous, guiding the Portuguese sleeping giants to their first league title for 19 years in 2020/21, losing just once and only conceding 20 goals.

Since then, Sporting have lifted another league title in 2023/24 – as well as two League Cups – and currently sit top with nine wins from nine this term.

He may be young, but Amorim already has an eye for rebuilding and revitalising fallen super powers with his infectious charisma and intense tactical philosophy that hardly ever wavers. 

The “walking dead” at Manchester United must be praying for a similar sort of revival.

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And they may just get it from one of the most talented young coaches on the continent – a man accustomed to breathing new life back into crumbling institutions such as Old Trafford.

Amorim has spent the last decade dreaming of one day gracing England’s Premier League, such was his admiration for an ex-United boss in Jose Mourinho growing up.

Often nicknamed ‘Mourinho 2.0’, Amorim spent a week with his coaching idol in an internship capacity at United’s Carrington training base in 2018, going on to cite him as his “reference point”.

United should not be expecting a mini-Mourinho, as Amorim said himself: “Mourinho is one of a kind. There won’t be another Mourinho. Mourinho is unique.”

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And yet, you cannot help but compare the two.

For all the mismanagement in the Old Trafford hot seats over the years, this would be a real get – finally a slap in the face United’s Prem rivals have no answer for.

Wright argued: “He’s probably playing in anger. He can’t not think about it [the fans’ criticism].”

An impassioned Keane continued: “You’ve scored in front of 60-70,000 fans. He’s probably under pressure from outside sources.

“Every player is under pressure from family, for tickets, your performances, your fitness, your contract.

“There’s all sorts of pressures on players but for that moment, or for that weekend when you’ve scored a goal, you should be going, ‘Whatever happens for the rest of my life, if it finishes tonight, I’m going to enjoy this moment’.”

Wright concluded: “He’ll probably get that as he gets older, he’ll learn from this experience and he may never do that again.

“But I don’t think he’s wrong to do that, because you know what the sad thing is that he didn’t celebrate for himself. And that’s because somebody affected him.”

Garnacho is Man Utd’s top scorer this season with seven goals in all competitions.