Rookie Franco Colapinto brushed off talk of him being Formula One’s Lionel Messi as he prepares for his debut at the Italian Grand Prix.

The 21-year-old will become the first Argentinian driver to compete in F1 in more than 20 years this weekend in Monza after replacing struggling Logan Sargeant for Williams.

Keep reading

list of 2 itemsend of list

His appointment delighted fans of the sport back home, but asked whether he felt like football icon Messi before the last World Cup, Colapinto said such talk was “crazy”.

“It’s very difficult to feel as Lionel Messi, I don’t know how it is to feel that,” Colapinto told reporters on Thursday.

“But sometimes, I see that they compare me and I’m like, ‘You guys are crazy. Like Messi is God; it’s like you cannot, how are you comparing me?’”

Colapinto has not set high expectations for his debut with Williams, who have a paltry four points in the F1 constructors’ championship.

“I am not expecting much … I just want to go step by step, I want to focus on myself,” he added.

“That’s the main thing I think. To be able to be focused on my job. To be able to do what the team expects. And I am, to be honest, more than sure that I can do it.”

The action gets under way at Monza on Friday with the first two of the weekend’s three practice sessions.

Argentinian driver Franco Colapinto poses for a photograph during an event with his sponsor Gulf, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, August 12, 2024 [Juan Lopetegui/Gulf/Handout via Reuters]