Colapinto pushes for Argentina F1 return as demo draws 600,000 in Buenos Aires

The 22-year-old, himself from the Buenos Aires city of Pilar, performed his show run on Sunday around a 2km course in the Palermo neighbourhood, near the capital's Monumento de Los Españoles, in a 2012 Lotus E20. The car was donning the pink and blue livery Alpine have had since its rebranding from Renault in 2021.

Colapinto, a sensation in his home country, attracted a whopping 600,000 people to the roadshow, officially known as the 'Mercado Libre presents: Franco Colapinto Road Show Buenos Aires 2026!', which also featured a fly-by from the Historical Squadron of the Argentine Air Force.

What's more is that Colapinto was also able to perform a special run in a replica Mercedes-Benz W196, an equivalent to the car in which Argentina's Juan Manuel Fangio dominated the 1954 and 1955 seasons. The W196, also driven by F1 great Stirling Moss, won nine of its 12 Grand Prix races and delivered two world championships before Mercedes withdrew from the sport in 1955.

Colapinto's latest calls to return Argentina to the F1 calendar come after the Turkish GP was announced to make its comeback in 2027, having not hosted a race since 2021.

After wrapping up the show, which also saw a fan forum and musical acts, Colapinto was delighted, saying that it proved Argentina deserves a spot on the F1 calendar after a 28-year absence.

He said: "I love Argentinians. We are the best fans in the world and it is great to show that, because we are showing Formula 1 that we deserve to return to the calendar and that we deserve to have a race again.

"It was a great day. Honestly, I enjoyed it so much personally, it is a dream come true. I’m very happy with the day we had today, enjoying it with everyone, with all my people who have supported me for such a long time."

Colapinto has seen a rapid rise in popularity since his F1 debut in 2024, when he took over from Logan Sargeant at Williams mid-season. A successful eight-race stint, which saw him become the first Argentine driver to score F1 points in 42 years, eventually saw him move to Alpine.

While Colapinto has endured a tough start to his Alpine career, after replacing Jack Doohan after six races in 2025, he did score his first point for the French team at this year's Chinese GP, with the 2026 car showing far more promise with its new Mercedes power unit.

The last time Argentina hosted a Grand Prix was in 1998, and saw Michael Schumacher's first victory of that season for Ferrari after starting second from the grid and a strategic battle with McLaren's Mika Häkkinen.

The venue for that race was the Autódromo Oscar y Juan Gálvez, which Colapinto also reportedly visited last week, and is set to host MotoGP races from 2027.