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Formula 1 The team said that “any questions about sabotage or not giving Franco the same car are completely unfounded. " Mark Thompson / Getty Images The Alpine Formula 1 team has released a near-1, 200-word open letter to its fans that condemns a slew of online abuse following recent crashes involving its driver Franco Colapinto, and denied claims that the team was “sabotaging” Colapinto in favour of his teammate Pierre Gasly. Over half its letter was dedicated to rejecting any suggestion that Colapinto and Gasly have not be receiving equal equipment during the early phase of the new season. Advertisement Colapinto has been involved in two incidents during the recent races in China and Japan. He was clattered into and spun around by Haas’ Esteban Ocon in the former and in the latter, the other Haas driver, Ollie Bearman, crashed after being caught out by a sudden speed difference to the Alpine car ahead. After the Shanghai crash, Ocon immediately took full responsibility and apologized to Colapinto post-race, over the incident that cost the Argentine several places before he recovered to finish 10th. Ocon was penalized. Before that race had even finished, Colapinto’s management put out a statement on X asking fans not to “send hate messages or death threats to Esteban, his family, or the Haas F1 team. ” ? ?Aviso de servicio público: Por favor, no envíen mensajes de odio ni amenazas de muerte a Esteban, su familia ni al equipo Haas F1. No va a deshacer el accidente y solo refleja mal sobre el fandom de Franco. ¡Gracias por mantener el apoyo positivo y respetuoso! ? — Bullet Sports Management (@Bullet Sports Mgt) March 15, 2026 Such messages, however, did flow in towards Ocon, who spoke out against the work of “keyboard warriors” two weeks later in Japan. The French driver also revealed he was sent a letter of support on the matter from FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem. Colpinto’s management then put out another similar statement in the aftermath of Bearman’s crash, which has intensified the current debate on safety regarding the engines in the new cars, given there was a sudden closing speed difference of 29mph between the two involved in the incident at Suzuka, and Bearman left the track at 191mph before hitting the barriers and suffering a knee contusion. This statement also referenced abuse being directed at Colapinto, who was cleared over his defensive driving in the incident by the Suzuka race stewards. Advertisement On Thursday, Alpine published its statement, which said, “we feel we owe it to our fans to address certain points and questions being raised, and also once again speak out against the hate and abuse being aimed at not just one of our own drivers, but also aimed towards our racing counterparts and other members of the Formula 1 family. ” The statement, which condemned hateful and abusive messages directed towards Ocon and Colapinto, continued: “This isn’t about one particular fanbase, it’s about the entire Formula 1 community coming together to enjoy the sport we all love and are passionate about. ” Regarding the abuse sent to Ocon, who completed 106 races for Alpine between 2020-2024, including victory in the 2021 Hungarian GP, Alpine said, “The resulting abuse that followed was not in the spirit of the sport and was an oversight not to call it out sooner. ” An Alpine spokesperson confirmed to The Athletic that the oversight cited was from the team itself, after it had struggled to monitor messages sent to social media channels outside its direct control, before it was made aware of these in Japan. The team then addressed the idea of unequal treatment between its drivers. Fears of this can arise from several areas of F1 car development, which are then often polarized on social media channels to fit unfounded narratives. Recent examples in F1 include that Mc Laren was favoring Lando Norris against Oscar Piastri during the 2025 season, although this had more to do with in-race strategy calls rather than when drivers recieved newer parts at certain races. F1 teams are often forced to bring just one set of upgrades to races and trial them on one car due to lengthy lead times around design and construction. It is typical that a more experienced driver or a one well clear in the standings would get such parts first. Advertisement Upgrades can center on aerodynamic components being re-made with a lower weight, which can drastically improve lap times. There can also be discrepancies between overall chassis — the main area a car is built around — as these are usually swapped between drivers through a season and can get damaged, meaning one many not perform as well if repairs are not made. Alpine’s statement also declared: “Pierre and Franco regularly come to each other’s desks in the engineering office to share data and feedback. ” The team said “both Pierre and Franco have been running with the same equipment, barring some small low-performance impacting parts in China due to switching gearbox components. ” It also stated: “Any questions about sabotage or not giving Franco the same car are completely unfounded, which is why the team felt the need to speak out. ” This is not the first time in 2026 that Alpine has been in the headlines in relation to social media abuse from fans. When the latest series of Netflix docuseries ‘Drive to Survive’ was aired on the eve of the new campaign, its former driver Jack Doohan was featured saying he had received death threats at the 2025 Miami GP. This was his final race before he was replaced in Alpine’s line-up alongside Gasly by Colapinto. Alpine is fifth of 11 teams after three rounds in 2026, with Gasly scoring points in all three events, and Colapinto securing his first point of the season with that 10th place in China. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle Alex Kalinauckas is a Deputy Managing Editor covering Formula 1 for The Athletic. Alex has spent 11 years reporting on motorsport for outlets including Autosport, The New York Times and CNN – including five years as a Formula 1 correspondent travelling to race events. He is a graduate of Goldsmiths, University of London and won the Motorsport UK Young Journalist Award in 2020. Follow Alex on Twitter @Nauckas