Following the accident caused by Franco Colapinto, the Alpine team responds to the harsh criticism expressed online.
Franco Colapinto (Alpine) was responsible for the accident happened on Saturday during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which took out his teammate Pierre Gasly as well as Lando Norris (McLaren). The French team responded on Sunday to the online attacks against its driver.
On lap 36 of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix , the 15th race of the World Championship competition, on Saturday in Baku, Franco Colapinto, one of the two drivers of the Alpine team, caused an accident that push him out of the race, as well as two other single-seaters, those of his teammate Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris (McLaren).
The Argentinian driver has been handed a five-place grid penalty for the next weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix. He has also been the target of numerous attacks online and on social media, prompting Alpine to issue a statement on Sunday about the accident.
“ We feel it necessary to speak out again regarding the online hate and abuse that occurred after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix ,” the statement read was. “ These attacks were not only directed at one of our team drivers, but also at members of the Formula 1 community (…) as well as our fellow drivers on the track. (…) Mistakes can happen any time, mostly when driving on the limit; regardless of the result or the outcome of the race, no one should be subjected to hateful or abusive comments. ”
“ Our condemnation of abuse on social media is not aimed at any particular fan base, nor at the supporters of any team or driver in particular; this is a universal problem that all fans of this sport game must recognize and denounce ,” Alpine continued. “ As we have already stated, we strongly condemn the reactions of some supporters online and we stand in solidarity with Formula 1, the FIA (the International Federation) , and the other teams in their efforts to eradicate this phenomenon. ”
