That said, let's look at what happened on track before the keyboard warriors took over. A wild multi-car crash involving Franco Colapinto, Pierre Gasly, and Lando Norris at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix sparked massive debate across social media.
Here is the thing: Franco Colapinto locked up and went too deep at Turn 1 during the first Safety Car restart at the Baku City Circuit. The Argentine driver ended up taking out both his Alpine team mate Pierre Gasly and the McLaren of Lando Norris in one messy blow.
Naturally, the stewards handed down a punishment. The Argentinian was given a 10-second time penalty, which was converted into a five-place grid drop for the upcoming Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia because he did not finish the race.
Unfortunately, the aftermath spilled far beyond the tarmac and into the digital world. With the collision igniting fierce online debate, Alpine took to their official channels on Sunday morning to condemn the hate and abuse directed at figures across the paddock.
"As a team, we feel it's necessary to speak out once more about the hate and abuse online following the Azerbaijan Grand Prix," read the Alpine statement. The team noted that the abuse targeted not only one of their own drivers, but also members of the Formula 1 community, media, and competing racing teams.
Alpine made it clear that mistakes happen when racing at the limit, and no matter the outcome, nobody should be subjected to hateful or abusive comments. They added that condemning this behaviour is not aimed at any single fan base, but stands as a universal call to recognise and stop toxic reactions.
Standing in solidarity with Formula 1, the FIA, and other teams, Alpine emphasized that such abuse has become a regular occurrence in recent races and cannot be condoned. They confirmed they will continue working with the championship promoter, rights-holder, and governing body to tackle online abuse and encourage healthy sporting rivalry.
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