Franco Colapinto is dreaming of a Formula 1 return for the Argentine Grand Prix, but Crash.net understands his claims are somewhat wide of the mark. 

Argentina has hosted F1 on 21 occasions between 1953 and 1998, with home hero Juan Manuel Fangio the most successful driver at the event, winning four times. 

Colapinto, the first driver from his country to compete in F1 since Gastón Mazzacane in 2001, completed a show run in his nation's capital, Buenos Aires, ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, attracting a reported 600,000 people, a turnout which prompted calls for Argentina to return to the calendar.

“You can do all of this explaining, but it’s much easier to show with videos or pictures what can actually happen in a race if it actually happens in Argentina," explained Colapinto. "I think it’s a great way of showing what they can do, and how much Argentina would do for Formula 1. It would be massive. 

“Motorsport is the second sport in Argentina after football, and it has been so many years without a Formula 1 race and without a Formula 1 driver from Argentina in the sport. Now it is getting more and more and more with the races and the demands. I think it would be a very special moment if a race actually happens there, and they would all be very surprised of how passionate the fans are and what it would create.”

Asked what is missing for F1 to return, he added: “I don’t know what’s missing because I have no idea about the conversations. I think it is quite - there are some conversations [that are] quite advanced, and I think this is a great base and a great showing of what an Arentinian Grand Prix could be like. 

"With good organistaion, like we had on Sunday, it could be possible, and it could be very good. It would be really positive to have another South American grand prix. Of course, it would be one of my dreams. To race in my home country would be very special.”

While Crash.net understands that while Argentina is keen to see F1 return and some discussions have taken place, starting in 2024 at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, recent additions of Turkey and Portugal to the calendar mean that the 24-race schedule is locked in until at least 2029. 

There is also the matter of other nations bidding for a position on the calendar, with Thailand publicly approving a bid for an F1 street race, and Rwanda looking to put the African continent back on the schedule with a purpose-built facility.