Franco Colapinto has issued an impassioned plea to his fans after a number of incidents involving them and treatment of other drivers on social media.
The Argentinian is in his first full season of Formula 1, lining up at Alpine alongside Pierre Gasly, following his stand-in spell in 2025, coupled with his handful of races with Williams the season before.
Colapinto’s place on the grid filled a void of 23 years without an Argentinian on the grid, and the first since Carlos Reutemann in 1982 to score points in a Grand Prix.
Naturally, his profile in his homeland has risen significantly as a result, and his seismic partisan fanbase has led to some fierce defences of his and his driving online.
This has spilled over into a number of occasions where other drivers have suffered a torrid slew of abuse.
Most recently, reigning World Champion Lando Norris was subjected to a flurry of abusive messages after insinuating Colapinto did not belong in F1 after his manoeuvre in Baku resulted in him and Gasly being taken out of the race.
Gasly himself was also the victim of such messages after inadvertently holding Colapinto up during the Spanish Grand Prix, the Frenchman revealing his family and girlfriend had also been targeted.
The Enstone-based squad’s executive advisor, Flavio Briatore, felt the situation necessitated someone to step in, and so issued an ultimatum to Colapinto’s fans to cease the abuse, or a blackout to Argentinian media would commence.
Colapinto himself has now taken the bold decision to step in, and has taken to his own social media accounts to issue a statement directly to his fans.
“Hello everyone. There’s something very important that I’ve needed to talk to you about for some time,” he began.
“I probably should have spoken to all of you sooner, but this is something that needs to be addressed, something we need to change and improve.
“I will always be grateful, and I genuinely feel incredibly fortunate to have had you all supporting me from the very beginning. I’m grateful for all the support you give me, for how you help me achieve results, and for how you constantly push me to aim higher.
You help me and the team achieve our results, race after race, day after day, as we train and try to improve. And I’m genuinely grateful for all of that.
“I know it makes you incredibly proud when things go well for me, when I score points for myself and the team. And I have always been very grateful for that support.
“But sometimes, we go too far.”
“Instead of supporting me, we end up criticising people and attacking other drivers, other colleagues, my teammates, my mechanics, my engineers — people I work with every single day.
“I know you think you’re defending me, but you’re actually doing the opposite. You’re not helping me or my future.”
Franco Colapinto calls for ‘change’
Colapinto showed his immense gratitude to the fans for their support, but called for “change” to their attitudes in how that support is conveyed.
“I really want you to understand that this is something we all need to change together,” he continued.
“We need to try to become better as a society. And if you want to help me perform better, continue achieving my goals and results, and keep scoring points, then I need you to help me put a stop to this. We all need to do it together.
“We’re going to keep fighting and working hard for better results.
“Obviously, some time ago, I made the decision to step away from social media and take a break from it. I want to focus on what really matters to me: my dream, my racing career, and working with the team to achieve the results we want and the goals we need to reach.
“So I wanted to let you know that you won’t be missing me for long. We’ll continue seeing each other at the races, and we’ll keep following and supporting one another.
“So let’s give it everything we’ve got! Let’s keep pushing hard so those good results come back, so those points start coming in again.
“Let’s give it our all as one big team. Let’s support one another and stand by each other through the good times and the bad.
“And I’m sure we’ll see each other again very, very soon at the races, closer to home.
“Sending you all a huge hug. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for understanding, for supporting me, and for always being there.”
Colapinto will likely have a strong contingent of his fans present as F1 returns to Austin, Texas for the United States Grand Prix next weekend.
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