Pierre Gasly has revealed that he was the victim of social media abuse following the Spanish Grand Prix after an incident with Franco Colapinto two weeks ago at the Madring circuit.
The Alpine team-mates found themselves at the centre of a tense situation at the end of the race, when Colapinto caught up with Gasly, who was on old tyres and still had to make a pitstop.
Gasly remained focused on his own race, while his slower pace allowed Oscar Piastri, who was behind Colapinto, to close in rapidly. The team warned Gasly that his team-mate was approaching as they entered the final three laps, but he asked them not to speak to him and held his position, prompting Colapinto to call over the radio for a position swap.
Gasly eventually pitted at the end of that lap, allowing Colapinto to go on to finish seventh, ahead of Piastri.
The incident subsequently sparked a wave of abuse directed at Gasly on social media, with the Frenchman revealing in Baku that his family and girlfriend were also targeted.
“I think personally I find it a little bit disturbing for our sport. I think to the extent you know I’m a top athlete, so I know I’m exposed, it’s always been the case. But to that extent of threats and attacks, I find it a little bit, well even completely inappropriate, especially when it reaches out to family members, girlfriend, etc,” Gasly told the media, including Motorsport.com, on Wednesday in Azerbaijan.
The 30-year-old reflected on how things have changed with the rise of social media and urged the series to find ways to make F1 a healthier environment, stressing that certain lines are now crossed “too many times”.
Pierre Gasly, Alpine
Photo by: Peter Fox / Getty Images
““I don’t think that should be the case. I leave it there, but things were not that way in the past and I think as a sport we just need to find a way to make it a healthier place because you’re exposed.” Gasly said. “You’re going to be attacked, you can be liked, you can be disliked, it’s completely fine. But there is a certain line that should not be crossed just because you’re behind the screen on a keyboard and these lines are crossed a bit too many times.”
Since arriving in F1 two years ago, Colapinto has enjoyed huge support from his home country, with Argentine fans having become a regular presence at almost every grand prix. However, that support has also had a darker side online, with abuse directed at drivers becoming an increasingly common issue.
Colapinto himself condemned what happened to Gasly in Baku on Wednesday and called on fans to put an end to it, while also urging his supporters to focus on his results as the Argentine has become a regular points scorer in F1 this season.
“We are always working as a team, and it’s not nice to see it, so hopefully they can stop it,” Colapinto said. “The same that happened to other drivers, Yuki [Tsunoda following a clash in Austria] last year was quite bad as well at one point, and talked about it, and the stewards, I think after Zandvoort, went to see them as well, they had some abuse after the penalty they gave me.
“It happens a lot with fans in Formula 1, in any sport, nowadays it’s something very common, unfortunately that shouldn’t be common, and definitely should be taken more care about the things, the words that they come out of the keyboards of everyone.
“The way to support us as a team is to push the team forward and stay strong together, and yeah, hopefully it doesn’t keep happening, but it’s something tricky with fans in the sport, and it’s not just my fans. I’ve got some very passionate ones, and they want me to do well, and hopefully they can enjoy the good results I’m having.”
Both Colapinto and Gasly also acknowledged that the on-track incident itself had been discussed internally within the team.
“I think it was handled by the team, and I think we always try to learn from those things and those situations, so hopefully we learn and we can move forward,” Colapinto said, while Gasly added: “We obviously discussed it with the team. There wasn’t a call for an actual swap, it’s all been discussed with the team and it’s all clear.”
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