Argentina’s yearning for its next sporting hero

Franco Colapinto’s confident performances haven’t just surprised the Formula 1 paddock: the Williams rookie has also awakened a nation’s yearning for its next sporting hero.

Few countries are as sporting crazed as Argentina. Just remember the scenes in the capital Buenos Aires after its national icon Lionel Messi finally captained the country to winning the football World Cup, with an estimated five million Argentinians flocking to the streets in its delirious aftermath.

On the opposite side of the spectrum are the three days of mourning declared after Messi’s predecessor Diego Maradona died in 2020, which led to similar mass gatherings as fans travelled from all over the South American country during the pandemic to pay their respects.

Argentinians haven’t had it easy lately. Following years of economic decline, Argentina’s inflation rate soared to 250% over the summer, with an estimated 52.9% of a population of 46 million living in poverty. That downturn led to right-wing libertarian Javier Milei being elected as president last year, armed with radical deregulation policies to fix its economy and turn the ailing nation around, under the watchful eye of the International Monetary Fund that has lent Argentina up to $44bn.

Argentina is a patriotic nation at the best of times, but amid its economic malaise, its citizens are yearning even more to find new reasons to be proud of their country. That practice even has its own word; exitismo, which is described as “excessive eagerness for success or excessive valuation of its achievement by third parties”.

When Messi lifted the long-coveted World Cup in Doha in 2022, that eagerness for success was rewarded spectacularly. What better way to lift a country’s morale than sporting success on the world’s biggest stage? But the mercurial 37-year-old is now in the twilight of his career, and while Argentina fiercely celebrates its hockey and rugby teams too, it is always on the lookout for that next sporting hero to inspire it in difficult times.

It goes without saying that there’s a chasm between guiding your country to the World Cup and finishing eighth in a Williams, but 21-year-old Colapinto is now surfing on a similar wave of homeland support that also backed the likes of NBA star Manu Ginobili, tennis player Gabriela Sabatini or field hockey legend Luciana Aymar.

The country has a rich history with F1, with a grand prix held intermittently in Buenos Aires between 1953 and 1998. Four of those were won by Argentina’s original F1 superstar Juan Manuel Fangio, with the late Carlos Reutemann the last Argentine to win a grand prix in 1981. Since a brief intermezzo by Gaston Mazzacane in 2000 and 2001, motor racing fans have had to wait another 23 years to cheer on one of their own until Williams protege Colapinto was surprisingly parachuted into Logan Sargeant’s seat at September’s Italian Grand Prix.

While Colapinto’s unexpected promotion already made headlines back home, the Buenos Aires native’s strong performances generated an even bigger buzz. TV audiences and social media numbers soared in recent weeks, with FOX Sports Argentina’s broadcast figures tripling since Colapinto’s arrival. FOX, which is just one of several ways to watch F1 in the country, enjoyed even bigger peaks during the Singapore Grand Prix, which drew around 600,000 viewers up from an average of 150,000 on the subscription channel, rivalling primetime numbers on a Sunday morning. In local newspapers, numerous articles popped up highlighting his every move, down to journalists even tracking down his birthplace Pilar on the outer edge of Buenos Aires’ sprawling metropolis.

Argentinian fans watching the Singapore Grand Prix in Franco Colapinto’s birthplace Pilar, Argentina

Photo by: Municipalidad de Pilar

Its citizens are hosting F1 watch parties, which are set to become even more numerous when the championship heads to the American continent and timezones next, so Argentinian families can watch the races live over their cherished Sunday lunches. Those who are fortunate enough to travel have tried to grab an opportunity to see their new hero up close at the upcoming Brazilian Grand Prix, which has largely sold out.

“I’m very happy to have so much support from my country,” Colapinto told Motorsport.com in an exclusive interview in Singapore. “It’s very special, and to see everybody so happy with the good results we are having as a team in Williams, it’s nice to see that they are enjoying so much. I’m really looking forward to going to Brazil. It’s a very special place for me. Being from Argentina, it’s almost my home race, so there are going to be a lot of fans.”

Argentinian sponsors soon saw an opportunity, with Mercado Libre and Globant flocking to Williams mere days after Colapinto’s seat for the remainder of the 2024 season was announced.

“I’m really proud,” Colapinto added. “To be honest, since Williams announced that I was going to be racing with them in F1, so many companies came and arrived, and more are hopefully arriving soon, which is great to see. Globant was one of the first ones that helped me to get into Formula 2, and to have them now in the car also in F1 is very nice. And Mercado Libre is one of the biggest companies in South America, and it’s very, very nice to see. I am very grateful.”

Franco Colapinto, Williams Racing

Photo by: Williams

Managing a nation’s burgeoning expectations

Argentina’s government was also quick to spot an opportunity to piggyback off Colapinto’s early success, with tourism minister Daniel Scioli announcing plans to revive the Argentinian Grand Prix. “I am going to take care of it because I spoke with President Javier Milei to bring Formula 1,” he said at an event hosted by the International Tourism Federation. “I have no doubt, talks are already under way to bring it to our country because today it is allowed to think big.”

Reviving the race has often been a pipe dream in the past, but Scioli’s delegation is now planning to travel to the Brazilian Grand Prix to hold exploratory talks in F1. Given the state of its economy and the high demand to claim a slot on F1’s 24-race calendar, Argentina’s prospective bid is up against fierce competition and will have to rely on private funding. But given Colapinto’s F1 career is currently set to only last until the end of the 2024 season, with no guarantees over his long-term future, Scioli’s claims have been dismissed as political clout chasing by some observers.

If Colapinto’s career does take off properly, for example by Williams loaning him out to Sauber for the next few years, then the hype around him will likely only get bigger over time. That is a net positive for both Colapinto and Williams as long as things go well, but there are also concerns for when his relationship with either his team or his on-track rivals takes a turn for the worse.

Earlier this year Sauber junior and IndyCar driver Theo Pourchaire was subjected to death threats on social media after a run-in with Argentinian Agustin Canapino at the Detroit Grand Prix, which soured what had been a surge of interest from Argentina in its former touring car ace and IndyCar’s partly Argentinian-owned Juncos Hollinger Racing team, and mirrored similar events in 2023 involving Callum Ilott.

Callum Ilott, Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet Agustín Canapino, Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet

Photo by: Brett Farmer / Motorsport Images

Fortunately, the incident involved only a small minority of fans, and given the mature way he digested his unexpected F1 debut, the grounded and well-supported Colapinto appears to be equipped to deal with whatever his new-found fame throws his way.

But while grand-prix-winning success is still a distant dream for Colapinto, at least his proud country has found another reason to smile.