Franco Colapinto, driver for the Alpine team in Formula 1, has reacted to comments made by Jeremy Clarkson, who suggested in an interview that the Argentine driver should receive a grid penalty for his nationality. Clarkson made these statements during his presence at the United States race, while being a guest of the Alpine team.
In the interview, Clarkson said: ‘I would give Franco a penalty for being Argentine. Probably. Well, I would do it for that. But well, that’s just because of what happened when we were there.’ He was referencing Colapinto’s actual penalty for exceeding the limit of engine parts, linking it to his show Top Gear, where there were tensions in Argentina due to a previous episode about the Falklands War.
After Clarkson’s comments, Alpine issued a statement expressing their support for Colapinto: ‘We are aware of the comments made by a guest of the team in a recent TV interview in Austin. Franco is our driver and has all our support.’
One day later, Colapinto was asked about this topic in the post-race press conference. He stated: ‘Clearly, it has nothing to do with the team. He did an interview on his own, and it’s not a problem related to us. I know he always makes jokes, but I don’t know him very well, so I can’t say much more. I try to focus on ourselves and improve the situation, which requires help from many people, not just mine.’
Regarding his performance in the race, Colapinto retired after a clash with Arvid Lindblad on lap 25, after getting stuck between two other vehicles. ‘I started the race from the back, and it didn’t work well from the beginning. I hope things can improve in Mexico and I can finish the races without penalties,’ he stated with an optimistic spirit.
Colapinto has retired in three of the last four races, a number equal to that of previous years in his Formula 1 career. Nevertheless, he expressed that he was satisfied with his race pace over the weekend and hopes to achieve good results in the upcoming races in Mexico and Brazil.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
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