Following a minor practice altercation in the Imola Grand Prix with Yuki Tsunoda, Franco Colapinto urged his “passionate” fan base to show some respect to the Japanese driver after he received a swarm of abusive messages.
Calls for calm
Colapinto is officially back in F1 after replacing Jack Doohan. With five races to prove his worth, the Argentine wants to show the team what he can do, starting from Imola to Austrian rounds.
In his first practice return in Imola, Colapinto admitted to “feel a bit more comfortable” in his car. However, at some point, he impeded Tsunoda in the Red Bull. Tsunoda reacted with gestures towards Colapinto after the Alpine driver blocked him during a Friday practice flying lap.
Colapinto’s fan base is known for their passionate defence of their driver. What happened next was that Tsunoda’s Instagram was flooded with hateful Spanish comments.
Before the Imola weekend, Colapinto revealed he has switched off his social media accounts. Regardless, the news soon reached him, and he condemned the attacks on Tsunoda.
“I blocked him yesterday; he [Tsunoda] was right. I blocked quite a few people yesterday, just the first day with the car, with the team. It’s always a bit of miscommunication and a bit tricky. And yeah, I blocked him.
“He probably was a bit upset. Heâs right to be upset, it’s fine. I don’t know what the Argentinians did?“
When he learned of the attacks, the 21-year-old demands his fan base to show “respect” to the rivals.
“I know they are extremely passionate, and they are always very harsh on people. They have to give respect, and that’s what we all want.
“There is a lot of hate on social media nowadays. Of course, we always try and want, for all the drivers to keep it respectful and keep it calm there.”
Tsunoda’s response
Tsunoda claimed that these attacks were not personal but it reflected the wider behaviour of certain fans. The Red Bull driver thinks there is already a line over what one can say.
“That’s a bit unnecessary. I know they are supporting their own country’s driver, but there’s always a line that they can say something.“
Tsunoda argued that this portion of the fan base must be the same one behind the attacks on Doohan, a driver Colapinto eventually replaced.
“And I’m saying this because not because they say to me, they say too much about Doohan, right? I don’t think he was driving in a comfortable way.“
While unhappy with the attacks, Tsunoda suggested Colapinto’s fan base to direct their energy into something more positive.
“It’s good that they have energy, but just control it. I feel like they can use the energy in a better way.”
Respect on the community is important
This was not the first time Colapinto’s fan base has attracted backlash against them. Colapintoâs manager, Jamie Campbell-Walter tweeted that what the fan base is doing is causing “more harm” to his client during pre-season testing.
“The haters who think they help Franco. You are doing him more harm than good.
“Insults to the team, to Jack and sometimes to other supporters of Alpine. Franco and all of us who support him are fans of the whole team, [including] Pierre [Gasly] and Jack.
“Conduct yourselves with passion but not abuse and arrogance. Francoâs time will come but not like this, you will achieve the opposite.“
Colapinto also added on Thursday’s Imola press conference acknowledging his passionate fan base and urged them to maintain respect for others. It is not a secret that Latin American fans are passionate in supporting athletes and teams they feel close to.
“The Argentinian fans and, I think, Latin American fans, they are very passionate, very euphoric and they love supporting their athletes and people that they feel close to.
“Theyâve always been there and theyâve always been very supportive. But yeah, I think we always try to keep the respect for all the drivers on the grid â thatâs the main thing the fans should do and something to improve on.”
