Williams driver Alex Albon thinks Franco Colapinto's tough final Formula 1 races with the squad should not overshadow the excellent results the Argentinian produced.
Colapinto's impressive early races since stepping in for Logan Sargeant in Monza turned heads in the paddock, and they also yielded Williams five important points over three race weekends, which looked crucial at the time before the team was finally left behind by its midfield rivals.
Colapinto's form, composed attitude and quick adaptation to the demands of F1 even made Red Bull consider making a move for the 21-year-old as it weighed up its driver options for 2025.
But as swiftly as the Argentine appeared on Red Bull's radar, a spate of costly crashes in Brazil and Las Vegas were quick to put Christian Horner and Helmut Marko off again, with the pair turning towards their own driver pool instead.
According to Albon, it is harsh to just judge Colapinto on the more difficult second half of his nine-race Williams cameo, as its FW46 also became more difficult to drive and the team was having to fight harder and harder to keep up with the competition.
When asked if Colapinto's crashes have overshadowed his season, Albon replied: "I hope not. I don't think he deserves it to be.
"I think it really goes in tandem with the performance of the car, and it became tricky at the end of the season. It was tricky for me. I didn't have a fantastic end of the season, and I don't always just blame myself, so I think the team knows how good he is."
Albon believes the timing of Colapinto's arrival helped him settle in because around September Williams was at its best.
After having taken weight out of its chassis, Williams also introduced its only major update package around the Dutch Grand Prix, before it started sliding back again towards the end of the year.
"In terms of timing, I think it was perfect he came in when the car was at its most competitive and possibly easier to drive back than it is now, on tracks that were also quite nice to drive," said Albon.
"To be fair he did a very good job in Baku and Singapore, and they weren't easy tracks to drive. And then it's just F1; I think we've fallen back. You could still get into Q2 with an average lap whereas later you had to do a great lap to get into Q2 and all these kind of things. And it just distorts slightly where it comes.
"It's easy to overpush when it's that tight and there is no margin to be slow or to make a mistake. Both of us went through a tough group of races, so I wouldn't blame him too much.
"Especially Brazil, first time in the wet, that's not easy around a difficult track. And then obviously Vegas was just tricky.
"He's a fantastic driver. I feel like he's proved his worth in Formula 1. Definitely, when he joined, I underestimated just how quick he was going to be, and I believe we'll see him in Formula 1 at some point in the future."
