The Alpine Formula 1 team has denied social media claims that it sabotaged Franco Colapinto's car, attributing performance differences to minor gearbox issues in China. In a detailed open letter published Thursday, the team reaffirmed its commitment to equal treatment of drivers Pierre Gasly and Colapinto while condemning online abuse directed at both Colapinto and former driver Esteban Ocon. Alpine emphasized driver collaboration and its strong early-season position as the fourth-fastest team.
Alpine issued the open letter following fan backlash on social media, primarily from Argentinian supporters, after Colapinto finished 10th in the Chinese Grand Prix main race, 49 seconds behind teammate Pierre Gasly. The gap stemmed partly from a collision with Esteban Ocon, prompting Colapinto to remark, “We need to understand a few things on the high-speed corners that we lack and also get more performance on my car. The bits I don't have on mine, it would really help as well to have them soon.” Fans accused the team of unequal engineer support and dubbed Colapinto's car a “bicycle” or Alpine a “meat grinder” for its second driver. Alpine clarified that both cars ran identical equipment except for “small low-performance impacting parts in China due to switching gearbox components.” The team stressed, “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.” It committed to transparent communication on any staggered upgrades. The statement also addressed abuse toward Colapinto after his incident with Oliver Bearman at Suzuka, which caused a 50G crash for the Haas driver due to a closing speed difference. The FIA reviewed the clash and took no further action, while Haas refuted blame on Colapinto. Alpine condemned similar threats against Ocon post-Shanghai, noting his apology and calling the delayed response an “oversight.” “Social media should be a place to bring people together... but we encourage all fans... to do it in a kind and respectful way,” the team wrote, urging the F1 community to unite. Drivers Gasly and Colapinto share data openly at the Enstone factory during the break before Miami.
