The Alpine advisor warns that the internal fights between Colapinto and Gasly are not acceptable and criticizes the attacks on social media. He threatens to cut interviews with Argentine television if the harassment towards the team continues.
Flavio Briatore has lost his patience. The Alpine advisor known for his direct character and his inability to bite his tongue, launched a blunt warning in the preview of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. His statements made in dialogue with ESPN Argentina, were directed both at the internal management of the team and at the fans who have turned social media into a battlefield after the controversy between Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly at the Spanish Grand Prix.
"We have to fight with the others, we don't need internal fights between our drivers, at all" Briatore sentenced when consulted about the coexistence between both drivers. The Italian went further and marked the line that the team is not willing to cross: "We are here to fight together: the team and the two drivers. We don't need fights inside the team, we must be in harmony, that is no longer acceptable".
The episode that unleashed the controversy occurred in Madrid, where Colapinto finished seventh after an outstanding performance. In the final laps the Argentine was left behind Gasly, who was circulating at a slower pace while waiting for a safety car that never came. The Frenchman's delay allowed Oscar Piastri to get closer with his McLaren and put the Argentine's result at risk, the tension was recorded on the radio communications and once again installed the debate about internal orders at Alpine.
The situation was not an isolated event: Colapinto and Gasly had already starred in on-track disputes in Belgium and the United States, however outside the circuits both maintain a cordial relationship and work together for the development of the team, but the fuse was lit on social media where some Argentine followers attacked Gasly and even his family and his girlfriend, with threats that the French driver himself publicly denounced.
Briatore did not overlook this situation and directed his hardest message to the fans: "I say it especially to the Argentine fans, if they want to support Franco do it in a respectful and loyal way, not as I see on social media" he stated. Far from stopping there, the Italian was even more forceful when raising a concrete consequence: "If this continues like this, a moment will come when Franco will stop talking to everyone. I see a lot of anger from the fans, over and over again, without reason. If it keeps happening we will stop giving interviews to Argentine television" warned the Alpine boss.
When the journalist asked him if that measure would also reach him, Briatore's response was blunt: "With you too, we stop all of them because what we read there makes no sense" the executive left no room for interpretation: the team is willing to cut communication with certain media if the attacks continue.
Despite the wake-up call, Briatore also had words of praise for Colapinto: "Franco is still in full development, last year he was already very good and this year he is much better" he assured, before asking his followers to support him with a sporting spirit. Alpine's stance is clear: internal unity and external respect.
The team needs to concentrate on scoring points in the final stretch of the season and the controversies off the track do nothing but hinder that objective. In Baku Colapinto and Gasly will once again share the track with the mission of leaving behind the conflicts and working together for the good of the team.
