Alpine Components 1 driver Franco Colapinto has opened up in regards to the “particular” second he met Argentine footballer Lionel Messi forward of the Miami Grand Prix.
The countrymen met at Inter Miami’s coaching floor after Colapinto revealed throughout an F1 exhibition run in Buenos Aires that he would love to satisfy Messi. The pair was joined by Messi’s team-mate Rodrigo de Paul.
“I do not know. I feel it is a actually busy race. They’ve a match on Saturday afternoon. It was a really particular second. It was one thing I had dreamt of all my life. When you ask any Argentinian who they need to meet, it is Leo. I had the possibility,” Colapinto advised Motorsport.com and different media in Miami.
“I needed, after all, for a really very long time to satisfy him. However I did not have the possibility. No cameras, no advertising. Simply me, him and Rodrigo [De Paul], the three of us chatting. Having a pleasant dialog outdoors of sport and extra private. It was one thing I all the time dreamt of.
“Simply having the chance of assembly him and having his time was a really particular second.”
Colapinto beforehand gifted one in all his race helmets to the footballer in June 2025, with “Thanks for a lot pleasure and so many classes. All one of the best,” written on the sting of the helmet’s visor. The 22-year-old driver is, as you’ll be able to guess, an enormous fan of the staff, and has been seen carrying the Argentine staff Boca Juniors jersey a number of instances previously.
The Alpine driver presently sits sixteenth within the 2026 drivers’ standings after the primary three rounds, incomes one level on the Chinese language Grand Prix. Compared, his team-mate Pierre Gasly is eighth with 15 factors.
The F1 season resumes with the Miami Grand Prix after a five-week break as a result of cancellation of the Saudi Arabian and Bahrain Grands Prix.
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Miami GP – Thursday, in pictures
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