Briatore slams Colapinto after Azerbaijan Grand Prix crash with Gasly

Alpine’s Flavio Briatore has slammed Franco Colapinto on his crash at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, calling it a ‘very poor move’ with his experience. 

Feature image credit: BWT Alpine Formula One Team // TWJB Photography

Argentine’s Colapinto has found himself in hot water with not just the stewards, but Briatore after colliding with his teammate, Pierre Gasly, at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The collision resulted in a double DNF for the team, with Gasly pulling his car off track, and Colapinto stopping in the pit lane with terminal damage. 

The incident occurred on the safety car restart, at the end of lap 35, which Colapinto put down to cold tyres and brakes, which resulted in a lock up into the first corner. Out of control, Colapinto slammed into the side of Gasly, who went into the side of McLaren’s Lando Norris. 

At the time of the incident, both Alpine cars were inside the point-scoring positions, with Gasly in eighth and Colapinto 10th. 

Upon reflection of the moment, Alpine’s Executive Advisor, Briatore, emphasised on the loss of points in their bid to climb the constructors championship. Going from a nine-point deficit to fifth-placed Racing Bulls to 15 points separating the two teams. 

Franco Colapinto hit with five-place grid penalty after Azerbaijan Grand Prix crash

Briatore claimed these sorts of incidents should not happen, and that Colapinto should take responsibility for the crash, claiming it to be ‘a very poor move for a driver of his experience.’ He said: 

“Obviously I’m extremely disappointed with the outcome of today’s race, knowing we lost valuable points in the Championship fight. These sort of incidents shouldn’t happen, particularly when we were running well with both cars in point-scoring positions. 

“I feel very sorry for the team and for Pierre who did a great job all weekend and my apologies also go to Lando [Norris] and McLaren for ruining their race. 

“I know that Franco has taken full responsibility for it, as he should; in fact he braked far too late considering the context of the race and the safety car restart. It was a very poor move for a driver of his experience. 

“I want to take time to reflect on it and consider what course of action should be taken, so we can learn from it and avoid such a situation in future.”

The Argentine was apologetic for the incident, having openly apologised to the team, Gasly and Norris for causing the collision.

Following the incident – and retirement – Colapinto was hit with a five-place grid penalty by the stewards, which would be applied to the Bahrain Grand Prix (in Malaysia), next weekend. 

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.