Williams Racing’s Franco Colapinto is making waves in Formula 1, not just because he’s the first Argentine to compete in decades, but also because he’s delivered incredible performances in his first few races. With the F1 circus already in Mexico for this weekend’s race, and heading to South America for the Brazilian Grand Prix afterward, Williams is welcoming a new Latin American sponsor with a funny and clever ad on YouTube.
The sponsor is Mercado Libre, which means Free Market in English. You can think of it as the eBay south of the border. The spot features a delivery driver who drops off a package at a track where Williams is doing some testing, only to walk into an empty office and be tempted by Colapinto’s racing suit and crash helmet nearby. The delivery guy quickly throws on the gear and poses for a few selfies when Williams staff bust through the door and rushes him into the car. They clearly think it’s Colapinto under the helmet! So silly.
Shortly thereafter, Colapinto walks into the room to pick up his suit and helmet but happens to glance at the TV first and sees his F1 car doing laps. He’s essentially like, “WTF?”
The Argentine then jumps into the Mercado Libre Ford Transit and goes onto the race track, showing that he has the skills to make a pretty decent delivery driver, too. The whole thing ends when both drivers meet, shake hands, and compliment each other’s rides. Cheesy? Yes. Entertaining? Very.
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