Franco Colapinto 'very surprised' by Lionel Messi F1 question

Franco Colapinto has described his amazement at how many questions he was asked by Lionel Messi during a recent "dream meeting."

In F1's April break, Colapinto completed a demonstration run for Alpine in Buenos Aires before heading to Miami for round four of the season, where he caught up with eight-time Ballon D'Or winner Messi. 

The two had a chat with fellow Inter Miami player Rodrigo de Paul. Colapinto then explained how the former youth star from Rosario, who turned FIFA World Cup winner, had caught him off guard.

"It was something I've always dreamed of, and just having the opportunity of meeting him and having his time was a very special moment," Colapinto told the media, including RacingNews365.

"He actually knew quite a lot. He surprised me, and he was asking questions, and I was very surprised, and asking about the roadshow. 

"He loves sport, and he also loves Argentine athletes and people representing Argentina, so it was a very unique moment.

"If you ask anyone in Argentina who they want to meet, it is Lionel, and I had the chance and have wanted for a very, very, very long time, but to have a chance with no cameras and no marketing and just to meet him and Rodrigo was nice."

Although Colapinto was initially unsure whether Messi would attend the race owing to Inter Miami's fixture against Orlando City - which they lost 3-4 - the former Cristiano Ronaldo rival did attend the grand prix, as a guest of Mercedes.

There, he met with George Russell and race-winner Kimi Antonelli as well as greeting Colapinto.

Messi was able to see arguably Colapinto's strongest performance in F1, as he qualified in the top 10 for both the Sprint and grand prix, finishing 10th in the Sprint.

In the grand prix, Colapinto finished eighth on the road - matching his career-best from the 2024 Azerbaijan GP - before Charles Leclerc's massive 20-second time penalty promoted the Alpine up to seventh.

This career-best result for Colapinto was the best finish for an Argentine driver since Carlos Reutemann took second place at the 1982 South African GP - some 795 F1 world championship races ago.