Alpine defends Colapinto amid sabotage accusations
Alpine has issued a comprehensive 1,200-word statement firmly rejecting accusations that they have been deliberately undermining Franco Colapinto’s performance to favour his teammate Pierre Gasly, reports BritPanorama.
The Formula One team sought to quash the sabotage rumours while simultaneously defending the Argentine driver against a torrent of online abuse. They described any allegations of sabotage or providing Colapinto with inferior machinery as “completely unfounded.”
The disparity in results between the two drivers has been stark during the early phase of the 2026 campaign, with Gasly currently sitting in eighth position in the drivers’ championship, accumulating 15 points across the three competed races this season. In contrast, Colapinto has secured just a solitary point, although he is embarking on his maiden full campaign in the sport’s top tier.
The claim of sabotage appears to have originated from last month’s Chinese Grand Prix, where Gasly finished seventh, while Colapinto crossed the line in tenth, 49 seconds behind his more experienced teammate. Alpine confirmed both drivers have been “running with the same equipment, barring some small low-performance impacting parts in China due to switching gearbox components.”
This statement follows a wave of online hostility directed at Colapinto after his involvement in Oliver Bearman’s high-speed accident during the Japanese Grand Prix. Acknowledging that development pressures could occasionally lead to upgrades reaching one car before the other, Alpine pledged complete transparency in such situations, ensuring their objective is providing both drivers with identical machinery wherever feasible.
Additionally, the team addressed an incident involving Esteban Ocon, clarifying that Ocon accepted responsibility for his collision with Colapinto at the Chinese Grand Prix. As the championship prepares to resume in Miami during the first weekend of May, the race carries added significance following the cancellation of both the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia rounds due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
As the F1 spotlight shifts to Miami, it underscores the relentless pressures of competitive motorsport, where every misstep is magnified, and whispers of discord can have significant implications. How a team navigates such turbulent waters could very well define the narrative of their season.
