Williams in the News: Crowds flock for Colapinto and Alex focuses on the future

Williams endured a heartbreaking weekend in Brazil, but there is still plenty to be positive about ahead of the season’s final three races.

The team head to Las Vegas later this month with a strong determination to bounce back, then round off the campaign with visits to Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

Both Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto will be looking to put more points on the board before the curtain comes down on 2024 — starting with our Stateside sojourn in a few weeks’ time.

As attention turns to Round 22 in Nevada, here’s a look at how the media have been covering Williams over the past few days.

Franco’s South American fans flocked to see the Argentine last weekend.

FC43’s followers turned up to Interlagos in their numbers, which drew the attention of both Reuters and Franco himself, who spoke about the ‘fantastic’ Argentinian support in an interview with Sky Sports.

“I was not expecting the fans to be so passionate," he explained.

“And I kind of understand — after 23 years without having someone in the sport, I think the country really needed someone in Formula 1 from Argentina, and someone to support and someone to follow.

“I never really had anyone to support from my country. So to now be the person that the kids are cheering for, and that the kids have someone to support, it’s something very special, very nice.”

Elsewhere, Franco’s future continues to be a hot topic, with Team Principal James Vowles providing an update on the matter.

“We are exploring possibilities with a number of teams that are interested at the moment,” he said, as reported on Formula1.com.

“Beyond there, it would be wrong to do anything more than speculate. There’s nothing to really communicate beyond that point.

“When there is, I’ll happily talk about it because he’s an exceptional driver, and I really mean that.”

James also reflected on a challenging few days in São Paulo, with his comments covered by ESPN and Formula1.com.

Alex was philosophical about the progress that Williams have been making this season, in an exclusive interview with Brazilian publication Grande Prêmio.

AA23 noted that the team “has improved a lot” in a number of aspects, despite appearing to suffer a few setbacks across the campaign.

“I think we accepted that at the beginning of this year we were going to take a step back in terms of being a bit behind the times — behind the times with the changes in the team and how we changed the processes. I feel like this year has been much more of a learning year,” he revealed.

“Next year will be interesting. I think we will be in a much better position,” he added, before concluding that “I think only in 2026, when we have the complete change [in the regulations], will we be able to show what we have changed in these last two years.”