F1 rookie Franco Colapinto brushes off Messi comparison

Argentine gets ready for debut at Italian Grand Prix for Williams

Williams driver Franco Colapinto of Argentina arrives at the Monza racetrack. AP

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.

Colapinto will become the first Argentine driver to compete in F1 in over two decades this weekend in Monza after replacing struggling Logan Sargeant for Williams.

The 21-year-old Colapinto, who is sixth in the F2 standings, becomes the first driver from Argentina to race in F1 since Gaston Mazzacane in 2001. Excitement back in his home country has reached fever pitch, with some even likening him to football great Messi.

“It’s very difficult to feel as Lionel Messi, I don’t know how it is to feel that,” Colapinto said at Monza 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 was preparing to race in F2 this weekend at Monza and found out only on Monday that he would instead be making the step up.

He has driven only one practice session for Williams, at the British GP last month using Sargeant’s car. But he said the hours he has put in in the simulator and conversations with the engineers will help him with the steep learning curve.

Colapinto hasn't set high expectations for his debut with Williams, who have a paltry four points in the 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."

Meanwhile, Max Verstappen heads to the Italian GP with his unbeatable aura fading and a fourth straight world championship looking far less certain than before the summer break.

Dutchman Verstappen hasn't won since claiming the honours at the Spanish GP back in June, a five-race drought which has put the brakes on his title charge and Red Bull's dominance of F1.

Failing to win at his home GP for the first time in four years last weekend was further sign of the 26-year-old's faltering campaign.

And the manner in which he finished behind Lando Norris highlighted the problems with his car.

Verstappen finished nearly 23 seconds behind Norris as McLaren showed that they had the best set-up on the grid and forced a previously unstoppable driver to accept a humbling defeat after being overtaken on lap 18.