In the days preceding the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Flavio Briatore, Alpine’s senior executive figure, delivered a measured yet firm address to supporters of Franco Colapinto. Speaking in an interview with ESPN Argentina, Briatore addressed the wave of online hostility directed at teammate Pierre Gasly and members of Gasly’s family following an on-track incident at the Spanish Grand Prix. His remarks, consistent across multiple independent reports from the original ESPN conversation, underscore a principle long observed in elite motorsport: passionate support must remain within the bounds of respect if it is to serve the driver and the team rather than undermine them.
Briatore singled out Argentine fans specifically, noting the absence of comparable friction from Italian supporters or others. “Se lo digo especialmente a los argentinos, porque no hay problema con los italianos o quien sea,” he stated. “Si quieren apoyar a Franco, háganlo de manera respetuosa y leal, no como veo en las redes sociales. Si esto sigue así, va a llegar un momento en que Franco dejará de hablar con todos.” The conditional warning is unambiguous. Continued abuse would, in his assessment, lead Colapinto to withdraw from media engagements entirely.
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Briatore went further on the institutional response: should the pattern persist, Alpine would cease granting interviews to Argentine television. “Veo mucho enojo de los hinchas una y otra vez, sin motivo. Si sigue pasando, dejaremos de dar entrevistas a la televisión argentina. Pararemos todo porque no tiene sentido lo que leemos ahí.” When the interviewer inquired whether that measure would include the present conversation, Briatore replied that it would extend to all such outlets.
These statements arrive against a documented backdrop. After the closing stages of the Spanish Grand Prix, where Colapinto and Gasly contested position under differing strategies and without a team order for Gasly to yield, a segment of Colapinto’s online following directed threats at Gasly, his partner, and relatives. Similar episodes have previously targeted other competitors and even officials.
Colapinto himself has publicly called for the hostility to cease, consistent with a driver’s interest in protecting the professional environment that sustains his career. Briatore’s intervention therefore functions less as theatrical ultimatum than as a pragmatic defence of internal cohesion.
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On the matter of the drivers’ relationship, Briatore was equally direct. He rejected the notion that intra-team rivalry for positions is acceptable when it risks broader disruption. “Tenemos que pelear con los demás. No necesitamos peleas entre nuestros pilotos, en absoluto. Estamos acá para luchar juntos: el equipo y los dos pilotos. No necesitamos peleas dentro del equipo. Eso ya no es aceptable.”
He simultaneously praised Colapinto’s recent performance, describing the Spaniard’s race as extraordinary and noting measurable progress relative to the preceding season. “Franco está en pleno desarrollo. El año pasado ya era muy bueno y este año está mucho mejor.” The dual message is coherent: the young Argentine possesses talent that the team values, yet that talent flourishes only inside a stable collective framework.
Briatore’s remarks also contain an affirmative invitation. He reminded Argentine supporters of their good fortune in having a developing national representative in Formula 1 and urged them to channel enthusiasm through sporting spirit rather than online vitriol. “Necesitamos que lo apoyen de la manera correcta, con espíritu deportivo. No lo que leemos en las redes sociales.
Apoyen a Franco, que es argentino. Bienvenidos a los argentinos, pero que sean respetuosos también.” The language is neither dismissive of passion nor indulgent of excess. It treats the large Argentine following as an asset that can either amplify Colapinto’s trajectory or complicate it, depending on the form the support takes.
The timing of the interview, conducted on media day in Baku, places the comments in the immediate operational context of a street circuit weekend. Alpine’s leadership is focused on extracting performance from both cars; internal friction or external distraction serves neither objective. Briatore’s long experience in the category informs the stance. Teams that tolerate corrosive fan behaviour risk eroding the professional trust required between teammates, engineers and management.
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By articulating consequences for continued abuse, he seeks to realign incentives: support that protects the driver and the organisation will be welcomed; support that endangers colleagues will meet institutional limits.
Verification of the quotes rests on primary reporting from ESPN Argentina itself and corroborating accounts from established Argentine outlets that transcribed the same interview. Wording variations across secondary sources are minor and do not alter substance. Briatore’s title is rendered variously as executive adviser or team chief in different languages; the functional authority he exercises within Alpine is not in dispute.
The incident that precipitated the online reaction is a matter of public race record, and the subsequent threats have been widely reported.
In motorsport, the relationship between a national hero and his domestic audience is rarely neutral. Intensity can accelerate development or generate pressure that distracts. Briatore’s intervention attempts to preserve the constructive dimension while curtailing the destructive one. Whether the warning produces a lasting shift in online behaviour remains to be observed.
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What is already clear is the organisational position: Alpine expects its drivers to compete outward, not inward, and expects supporters to reinforce rather than fracture that effort. The coming race weekend in Azerbaijan will test whether the message has registered.
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