Alpine have condemned ‘hateful’ social media bullying towards Franco Colapinto following his incident with Haas’ Oliver Bearman at the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix.
Colapinto lifted on the run to Spoon Curve to recharge his battery when Bearman closed in at a faster speed, which forced the Brit to take avoiding action and resulted in a 50g slide into the outside barriers and left him with a right-knee contusion.
Fans subsequently decided that the incident was Colapinto’s fault which led Alpine to issue an open letter addressing ‘certain points and questions being raised’ about the incident which has led to further ‘hate and abuse’ of Colapinto plus other members within F1.
The team reiterated their ‘strong stance condemning any hateful behaviour, abuse, threats or bullying online and on social media,’ which remains consistent in the wake of the latest incidents and called for fans to conduct ‘healthy debate’ on social media more whilst respecting different views ‘in a kind and respectful way.’
There was previous abuse aimed at Alpine’s ex driver, Esteban Ocon after the Frenchman and Colapinto collided in China which the team has condemned, and won’t tolerate the same for any driver as they insisted that the pair simply ‘were racing hard and fighting for position’, with Ocon graciously accepting his fault in the incident.
Alpine proceeded to describe social media abuse as not spiritual of F1 and felt that they failed to speak up sooner, but iterated that abusing any drivers at any level is ‘unacceptable’ behaviour.
‘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.’
Alpine proceeded to explain Colapinto’s incident with Bearman as they clarified that even the FIA didn’t deem the incident worthy of a penalty, and pointed to the regulations as a fault behind recent events.
First of all, the most important thing is the safety and wellbeing of the drivers and thankfully Ollie is OK. 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.
The FIA also reviewed the incident involving Franco and Ollie during the race and deemed that no further action was necessary.
‘The team closely monitors its channels and uses certain tools to moderate comments that don’t meet the criteria of our community guidelines. It’s something we as a team also remain in regular dialogue with Formula One and the FIA about and collectively want to tackle and mitigate in future.
‘As the team and the sport enters a short break and reflects on the first three races of the new season, the team would also like to clarify the concern of some fans regarding parity between both our cars.
‘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.’
Alpine also expressed their confidence in Colapinto despite a tough start to the season as they dismissed accusations of favourism towards Pierre Gasly.
‘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.
‘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.
‘The team back at Enstone are working incredibly hard and are fuelled by you, the fans, to keep pushing in the hope of more good results. Both Pierre and Franco are also working very hard and will be at Enstone during the break with the engineers and on the simulator, finding every last bit of performance.
‘One of the things that goes unnoticed and isn’t seen often enough is how hard the drivers work together and share information. Pierre and Franco regularly come to each other’s desks in the engineering office to share data and feedback.
‘As a team, we’re fortunate to have someone of Pierre’s experience and, as can be seen from his performances in the first few races, he’s a class act and can perform at an incredibly high level on a consistent basis.
‘The engineering group is very much united and all pulling in the same direction. That includes both Pierre and Franco. There’s no withholding of information or keeping performance tricks hidden away.
‘That is very much a thing of the past and not part of modern Formula One, where you need every bit of input and data to be successful as a team. This is especially the case with these new cars, Power Units, and strategic way of going racing on track.’
Alpine also explained their plans for the next month due to the cancellations of Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix, which will involve in-depth reviews of the three opening rounds and focus on improvements.
‘As race fans ourselves, we are already eager to go racing again and look forward to returning in Miami in a few weeks’ time.
‘We will use the gap in the season to debrief the first three races, find ways to improve but also continue to push to come back even stronger. Franco, meanwhile, is excited to head back to Argentina and embrace the passion of the fans there and give back a little something for such loyal support.
‘On track, our rivals won’t be resting and standing still, so neither will we.’
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