Franco Colapinto is trying to control and convey as much amid recent fan situation, as Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly urge people to be kind and humane.
Upon his F1 return, Alpine’s Colapinto is already on the backfoot, not because of his performance but because of his fans. It is not a new problem that the Argentine has faced in his career. The whole of winter was similar against Jack Doohan, who had the seat over him.
It continued at the start of the 2025 F1 season and has continued even after Doohan’s drop in favour of Colapinto. A fake screenshot from Mick Doohan created a stir on social media in Imola, as Jack was forced to take up social media to clarify the situation.
Additionally, Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda faced the burn as well after the Japanese gestured Colapinto for blocking him in practice. Alpine and even FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem urged fans to be careful, with the latter citing his cause against the rise of online abuse.
Colapinto, meanwhile, agreed that things got out of hand which shouldn’t have happened, especially in the case of Tsunoda. He noted about the hate has received since his F2 days, while stating that he is doing as much to control things, but also clearing that he can only do as much.
“Look, I received a lot of criticism on social media since I was in Formula 2,” said Colapinto to media. “That happens, we are athletes, and we have to focus on what we can control. There is things out of our control that we cannot really change, how people respect the others and what those people do, and I try my best to try to ban people that I can control a little bit more that are my fans.
“So, that’s a work in progress. I know there is some overreacting, and they are very passionate, but they are also very euphoric, and some are a bit aggressive. That’s the reality. On my side, I’m trying to do my best. I know a lot of people are receiving hate. I did as well. So just things that we need to take out of our head when you’re on track and just focus on driving.
“But, like the Yuki one, I mean, I would have been really upset if someone blocked me like I did to Yuki, so honestly, he’s right, and he’s completely right to get upset. He was upset as I would have been if someone blocked me like that. And I understand him. I think he did the right thing – it’s just really bad to see him receive hate for that.
“There is different moments in not only motorsport, I think in sports in general, that people have to behave better, and we have also to do our best as the people in the sport, to try to calm the people down, make them understand that they have to enjoy the sport as much as they can, watching on TV or watching at the track, but not inducing that lack of respect that some have.
“Direct messages [to fans]? I try to do as much as I can. I try to control it as much as I can, and it’s not in my control. I never like when I see bad comments, bad messages to our drivers. I don’t like when I see bad comments or bad messages to me as well. So I’m kind of in the same position, and it’s never nice, you know?
“I try to do my best, as I said before, to calm them down, and that’s all I can do, help them understand that it’s not the right thing to do. Of course, they have all the freedom and liberty to write what they feel and what they want, but always keeping the respect and keeping the certain line and not going over that,” summed up Colapinto.
The case of Doohan was put forward in front of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly. They were equally saddened by the kind of abuse and urged fans to respect the boundaries and be humane. They both agreed that social media has certainly become toxic which is why they mostly avoid.
“I wasn’t aware of all the details of the situation, but I think as a global picture, that’s never something you want to see,” said Leclerc. “I think there’s a lot of respect. I’ve grown up with F1 as a target and looking at it thinking it was incredible to see so many fans from different teams, but having a lot of respect.
“That’s what I want to see going forward, no matter what the situation is. Especially now with social media, it’s more and more toxic. There is more and more false information being spread. But the most important thing in any situation is respect first. It’s a shame to see these kinds of things in a sport like ours.”
Gasly added: “Yeah, I fully agree with what Charles said. There’s no space for abuse in any sort of way, anywhere. It’s just sad to see really. I think F1 has been really good in that sense. The community we’ve had over the years, really supporting – but never really spreading hate.
“You can support any team or any drivers – many different drivers – but we’ve never really seen that sort of hate happening. I hope people understand there are human beings behind everyone – families, drivers, teams, mechanics, engineers – and respect should come first, always. So yeah, we don’t want to see any of that.”
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