Flavio Briatore could not hide his disappointment. The Alpine chief issued a stern warning to Franco Colapinto after an incident that eliminated his teammate, Pierre Gasly, at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
It all started at the safety car restart. Colapinto lost control, locked up at Turn 1, and slammed into the side of Gasly's car. Gasly then hit Lando Norris, and in an instant, three front-running drivers were out. The incident earned Colapinto a five-place grid penalty for next weekend's Bahrain GP.
For Alpine, it was a heavy blow. Both Colapinto and Gasly were running inside the top 10, and a double points finish seemed on the cards. Now, Alpine sits sixth in the constructors' championship on 68 points, 15 behind Racing Bulls in the battle for fifth.
“Obviously I'm extremely disappointed with the outcome of today's race, knowing we lost valuable points in the Championship fight,” Briatore said in Alpine's post-race press release. “These sort of incidents shouldn't happen, particularly when we were running well with both cars in point-scoring positions. I feel very sorry for the team and for Pierre who did a great job all weekend and my apologies also go to Lando and McLaren for ruining their race.”
Briatore pulled no punches. He called Colapinto's move “very poor” for a driver of his experience. “I know that Franco has taken full responsibility for it, as he should; in fact he braked far too late considering the context of the race and the safety car restart. It was a very poor move for a driver of his experience. I want to take time to reflect on it and consider what course of action should be taken, so we can learn from it and avoid such a situation in future.”
Reactions from the paddock were mixed. Reigning world champion Norris was scathing and said Colapinto deserved a race ban. However, Max Verstappen and George Russell defended the Argentine driver. They felt such incidents can happen to anyone, especially in the tense conditions of a restart.
This incident is a setback for Alpine in the middle of the season. Losing points in Azerbaijan could have a big impact on their championship position. Briatore is known for being decisive, and his statement signals that Colapinto is under immense pressure. A decision on internal sanctions is pending, but one thing is certain: Alpine cannot afford to keep losing points due to avoidable mistakes.
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