Alpine has dismissed claims by supporters of its driver Franco Colapinto that is has “sabotaged” or compromised his car.
The team also criticised “hateful” posts targeting Colapinto over his role in Oliver Bearman’s high-speed crash in Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix.
Colapinto has scored a single point so far while team mate Pierre Gasly has finished all three grands prix in the top 10 places, scoring 15. Alpine acknowledged there have been differences in the specification of the drivers’ cars at times, but denied this was deliberately done to compromise Colapinto.
“The team endeavours to put the two fastest cars on track and provide equal opportunity for both drivers to be competitive and score important points for the team in the championship.
“In some instances, given the need to fast-track parts and carefully manage the manufacturing process, the team is only able to bring select parts or upgrades to some events. However, that is never the intended or desired approach, as, if the part is a performance upgrade as we hope and intend, then we want it available on both cars immediately. This has remained the case this year and both Pierre and Franco have been running with the same equipment, barring some small low-performance impacting parts in China due to switching gearbox components.
“Franco is our driver and the team has placed its trust in him, just as he has with the team. That is an indication of the commitment we have to Franco and his place in the team with equal footing alongside Pierre.
“Any questions about sabotage or not giving Franco the same car are completely unfounded, which is why the team felt the need to speak out. There might be times this year when pushing in the development race that upgrades come to one car first, which the team will communicate and be completely transparent about. That being said, the aim will always remain to bring upgrades to both cars where possible.
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“It’s absolutely not in the team’s interests to not score points and any suggestion of self-sabotage isn’t conducive to that ultimate end goal. From the opening races, the team finds itself in a strong position and the team is not counting on its laurels and is staying grounded. At the last two races, the team has been the fourth fastest car and we know we have to work incredibly hard to stay there and have two cars regularly in with a chance of scoring points.”
In its statement, Alpine also echoed recent statements from Colapinto’s management condemning hateful messages he received after last weekend’s race. It follows a similar reaction to a collision between Colapinto and Bearman’s team mate Esteban Ocon at the preceding race.
Ocon was penalised for his collision with Colapinto while the FIA stewards chose not to investigate Bearman’s crash, which occured when he took evasive action after closing on Colapinto at high speed approaching Spoon curve. Bearman subsequently said he “wasn’t really given much space” by his rival when he left the track at 308kph, suffering a 50G impact.
“The team has previously taken a strong stance condemning any hateful behaviour, abuse, threats or bullying online and on social media, and issuing statements to not only condemn it but also encourage people to enjoy social media responsibly and follow community guidelines,” said Alpine’s statement.
“Our stance on this hasn’t changed and remains the same. Social media should be a place to bring people together, share in experiences and encourage healthy debate. In a highly competitive and complex sport, people will always have differences of opinion and disagree, but we encourage all fans of every team and driver to do it in a kind and respectful way.
“This isn’t about one particular fanbase, it’s about the entire Formula One community coming together to enjoy the sport we all love and are passionate about.
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“The team condemns the hateful messages aimed towards Franco after last weekend’s race in Japan, the same way it condemns the abuse and threats that were aimed towards Esteban Ocon following a collision between the two cars at the Chinese Grand Prix.
“The two drivers were racing hard and fighting for position and Esteban took full responsibility and apologised to Franco, actively seeking him out in the media pen and also apologising on social media. The resulting abuse that followed was not in the spirit of the sport and was an oversight not to call it out sooner. Abuse of any kind to all drivers is unacceptable and it was especially disappointing that it comes from a minority of fans of the team towards a driver who has given so much to the team in the past and is a Grand Prix winner for Alpine.
“Subsequently, the team also condemns the hateful behaviour towards Franco following the incident with Ollie Bearman at Suzuka. First of all, the most important thing is the safety and wellbeing of the drivers and thankfully Ollie is okay. The closing speeds are a characteristic of these cars and as stated by the FIA, it’s something that will be closely reviewed in the coming weeks.”
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2026 Japanese Grand Prix
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