“Five years ago we were on screen and I said I would leave everything behind”

Life constantly presents us with challenges; some even cruel; but all, transformers. The beauty of life is that you face them; good, average or bad, it doesn’t matter. Nicolas Varrone confronts multiple, personal and professional. First, he lost a friend of the same age who did the same thing as him: they were 11 years old when Ramiro Tot died after an accident at a kart race in Baradero. A few years later, he gave up his dream of achieving that formula 1when the 2020 pandemic caught him alone in the UK, without the budget to continue in the GB3 Championship. Now, at the age of 25 and with a successful career in the endurance categories (winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans and winning the World Championship), he will return to the ladder that leads to the Big Circus as a racing driver. Formula 2 the next season, with which he took part in the postseason tests in Abu Dhabi from December 10th to 12th.

“I think it shows a little what life is like in general. When I became Le Mans champion in 2023, I didn’t even begin to think that I could have another chance at the formula routefor everything it means, right? The question of budget and sponsors, which has always been very difficult in my career. And despite my performances in endurance racing, I was very good where I was,” says the man who completed a total of 286 laps (77, 108 and 101) with the Dutch team Van Amersfoort Racing (VAR) at the Yas Marina Circuit over his three days of testing.

He continues: “But because of these things in life, the opportunity arose from people who trusted me and asked me if I was ready to take the test in Abu Dhabi last year, and with no preparation, nothing, I said: “Well, I can’t say no.”. And I was very nervous because I knew that it was a crucial day for my career because if it went well, it could open everything that we are experiencing today. So I had a lot of pressure. But luckily I had a very good day with the AIX team and Today’s confirmation for next season is undoubtedly the result of years of effort and also unthinkablebecause I never imagined it.

For Varrone, the Colapinto factor is crucial: “I think that a kind of fanaticism for motorsport emerged in Argentina after Franco entered Formula 1which aroused great interest and today everyone watches Formula 1, everyone follows the races. And that in turn has piqued the interest of companies, so there is obviously a lot more support, at least for young drivers like me, to enter the world of Formula 1.”

Although the story began to take shape a year ago, it became reality in May 2025, after a test that the Ingeniero Maschwitz pilot carried out with Van Amersfoort, a team that was not on his radar. “We have been in discussions with other teams and have done a test with them to try to open another door and say: “We are doing well there and they have us on their radar too”. And so it happened, we did the test, they were very happy and the engineers took us into account from the first moment. I’m very happy about the opportunity, very happy about how it happened and For me it is a personal challenge to be able to race in both endurance and Formula 2 races next year. “I am preparing myself as best as I can to rise to the occasion,” he added, who will remain an official General Motors driver.

Although there were other riders with a bigger budget than the Argentine, it was the Dutch team’s engineer who gave him preference based on his conditions. “We were alone these two days, I didn’t know that he would get me so high. When I finished the test I thanked him because the truth is that at first I got along very well. And then it was he who sent the reports and said: “This is the one you have to choose”. Maybe we didn’t have other people’s budgets, but like I said, My career has not been entirely normal to datewith many stories and many anecdotes, and this is another one. That’s what makes my life so special and so much fun, so it’s another anecdote we have to tell tomorrow,” he says.

-Actually five years ago…

-Five years ago we were on the screen. Yes, five years ago I said, “I’m leaving everything.” If you look back, five years have passed, it’s nothing. Look at everything that happened in between. So life is a box full of surprises and you don’t know what will happen tomorrow. I am grateful for these five years that I lived. Many of the difficult moments have strengthened me for today. And of course I believe that things happen for a reason and arise for a reason. So try to enjoy it and do your best.

-Three years ago, after the World Cup, many boys no longer wanted to be strikers to try out as goalkeeper for Dibu Martínez. Now, with the Colapinto effect, many others want to become pilots. But this is a very cruel sport. What do you have to tell them?

-It’s a very cruel sport since I was a child. It’s very expensive, very difficult, you depend on other things, not just yourself. So you have to be prepared. You have to be psychologically prepared, your family also has to be strong to accompany you, because in my case I also wanted to go and it was my family that kept me there to keep going. So it’s a very difficult sport. But hey, you’ve got that thing, right? We talked to my friends about how it is so difficult and cruel that when you achieve something, the smallest thing, you feel a joy that other sports don’t give. It’s like a semi-toxic relationship we have with sports, ha ha. But it’s our passion: driving race cars. To those who have passion, I advise you to do everything with passion and dedication, no matter what you leave aside, whether you get there or not. If you haven’t arrived, you can be sure that you have done everything and you will be truly calm for the rest of your life. And when you arrive or arrive later, as happened in my case because I gave up the formula, for example, sooner or later life brings things to the place where you deserve them, so keep that in mind.

– Beyond the joy of your girlfriend, your family and the people who accompany you. I can imagine that Ramiro had a special thought these days…

-Yes, of course I get goosebumps… I always say that I have an angel in heaven, and it is him, and all the things out there that happened to me this time, the bad things and the good things, he was always present. I know that next year, no matter what happens, he will be with me and pumping it up. I wear it with the signature on my helmet as always and it will continue to be there. I know he and his family have a lot to do with all of this. We continue to see them and I am grateful to them and to him, who I know is there for me and always looks after me.

On the first day, December 10, in the best of his 77 laps, Varrone finished 14th, two tenths behind his teammate, the Mexican Rafael Villagómez, and 1:7 from the lead, with a time of 1:38:981.

Meanwhile, on Thursday the 11th, he increased the number of laps to 108, also focusing on race speed, which is why his record (which improved to 1:38:365 minutes) was 19th, although the interesting thing was that Villagómez placed a team that is not one of those with the biggest budgets in the top 10.

On Friday the 12th, Varrone finally repeated his position (19th), but improved his first time by almost a second: 1:38:069 minutes, nine tenths off the lead. For his part, Villagómez took third place, one and a half tenths behind Alex Dunne, the young McLaren Academy driver who was unable to maintain the best time of the three days of testing as it was in the hands of Oliver Goethe of the Red Bull junior team, reaching 1:37:049 minutes on the second day