Two years after Messi lifted the World Cup in Lusail, Argentinians put their faith in a rookie F1 driver to win — or at least try to.

Cheers and chants start as soon as a blue car zooms past the third turn. The phones go up to capture the moment, although it goes by quickly at the Lusail International Circuit. Then, the anticipation is spent chanting and some of them sound familiar to the ones that rang two years ago — until the Williams Racing car shows up again.

“Muchachos, ahora nos volvimos a ilusionar
Quiero ganar la carreras…”

The chant is a fresh take on the tune that Argentina fans sang on the way to their triumphant FIFA World Cup win in 2022. It strikes all the major chords for the South American nation: Diego Maradona, the Falkland Wars, a taunt at their major football rivals Brazilians, Lionel Messi and the longing for their third World Cup. Replace Messi with Franco Colapinto and tercera — the third World Cup — with racing, carreras and you get what Argentinians sang over the weekend in Lusail.

It was the resonance that made a few take a flight from Buenos Aires to Doha, hoping a miracle would happen once again in Lusail. Colapinto, their pibe in 2024, has not been in Formula 1 for a full season and he is already a star back home.

“We are experts at making chants,” said Guido Losardo, tying an Argentina flag to the barricade ahead of the Sprint Qualification on Friday. Losardo travelled to Doha for the race weekend and with him is a group of Argentinians bringing the noise.

For a car that is not the fastest and will most likely play the catching game for the rest of the weekend, the cheers are loud. Almost every section has its own share of Argentinians — Guido and company are at the T3 grandstand.

“If he gets a good car, he’ll be able to perform and be among the best. I could not be here for the World Cup, but I hope [Colapinto] makes another miracle,” he joked.

For a country with a strong history in motorsport, his rise to prominence was a perfect match and in came the hype. Argentina, who once had a five-time Formula One World Drivers’ Championship in Juan Manuel Fangio, did not have a single representative on the grid for more than two decades.

Coming to the pinnacle after a mixed record in karting as well as endurance racing, Colapinto scored points in just his second race in Baku, finishing eighth.

Such is the popularity back home — in addition to making it to daily news and securing lucrative sponsorships — that Colapinto now has his place in a restaurant’s menu that has the likes of Messi, Emiliano Martinez and Angel Di Maria. El Antojo, the restaurant now has a Milanese, a breaded beef cutlet widely eaten in Argentina, shaped like the driver. He has, however, laughed off “crazy” Messi comparisons.

And so the scripts had been written ever since he was promoted to the Williams’ seat in September earlier this year. Colapinto in Qatar. An Argentinian making history in Lusail, again.

“Lusail is very special for us as Argentinians,” Colapinto himself told ESPN Argentina before the Qatar Grand Prix. “I am happy to be able to represent Argentina in a place with so much history [for us] like Qatar.”

Colapinto’s helmet for the weekend was also an ode to the triumphant 2022 World Cup campaign. It included the three stars, and illustrations of Messi and the football team with the words Coronados de Gloria — crowned with glory.

“He has the talent to be one of the top drivers if he continues like this and gets a good car,” said Alejandro, another Argentinian who had flown in for the race to watch the rookie.

From Buenos Aires as well, is in the main grandstand with the sky blue and white flag draped around his shoulders. “I believe he will be the next to represent Latin America in F1 after Checo,” he added, referring to Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Perez.

Perez, a Mexican, is the only other Latin American driver on the grid alongside Colapinto at present. With Checo’s recent dip in form and the Argentinian’s uncertain future, there could be none next year.

The 21-year-old has, hence, been able to unite Latin fans in supporting him and the same was the case in Lusail.

“You can see in other sports there was some fighting between the Brazilians and the Mexicans and Argentinians but now in Formula 1, in motorsport, it looks like everyone is together and everyone is supporting me,” Colapinto had said ahead of the Mexican Grand Prix, where scores flew from Argentina to support him.

Yet, the weekend in Qatar did not pan out as expected for Colapinto. Despite a few promising laps on the Sprint, which he started from the pitlane, the qualifying saw him go out on Q1, having had to start the race second last.

The race was even sour for the fans and Colapinto — a dramatic crash in the first lap saw him go out of the race early, his second retirement in last three races. The Buenos Aires Herald, one of Argentina’s leading English outlets, called it “Trouble in Qatar“.

“It was a disappointing day for all of us here today,” Anibal, an Argentinian expat in Doha, said after the race. “But we’ll continue to support him. It is about bringing the noise wherever he goes. Hopefully, we’ll celebrate in Lusail next year.”