Alpine F1 Team Addresses Allegations of Driver Sabotage
The Alpine F1 team has responded to recent allegations from fans that it is intentionally sabotaging one of its drivers. Following the first three race meetings of the season, French driver Pierre Gasly has consistently outperformed his teammate, Argentine Franco Colapinto, in both qualifying and race sessions. This has led to accusations from some fans that the team is favoring Gasly by providing him with better upgrades and potentially sabotaging Colapinto’s car.
In a detailed social media post, the team condemned the “hateful” discourse that has been appearing in comments sections and firmly denied any claims of sabotage.
“The team endeavours to put the two fastest cars on track and provide equal opportunity for both drivers to be competitive and score important points for the team in the championship,” the statement said.
“In some instances, given the need to fast-track parts and carefully manage the manufacturing process, the team is only able to bring select parts or upgrades to some events. However, that is never the intended or desired approach, as, if the part is a performance upgrade as we hope and intend, then we want it available on both cars immediately.”
“This has remained the case this year and 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.”
“Franco is our driver and the team has placed its trust in him, just as he has with the team. That is an indication of the commitment we have to Franco and his place in the team with equal footing alongside Pierre.”
“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.”
“There might be times this year when pushing in the development race that upgrades come to one car first, which the team will communicate and be completely transparent about. That being said, the aim will always remain to bring upgrades to both cars where possible.”
Teams are awarded prize money at the end of the year based on where they finished in the constructors’ championship. Points from both cars are combined for the team’s overall score.
“It’s absolutely not in the team’s interests to not score points and any suggestion of self sabotage isn’t conducive to that ultimate end goal,” the statement continued.
After a difficult 2025 season, in which Alpine had the slowest car on track and finished last in the constructors’ standings, the team has found itself in a strong position in the midfield under the new 2026 regulations.
In the most recent race in Japan, Gasly was able to keep Red Bull’s four-time world champion Max Verstappen behind him on his way to a seventh-place finish. This followed his 10th and sixth-place finishes in Melbourne and Shanghai.
Meanwhile, Colapinto finished more than 30 seconds behind his teammate in 16th place in Japan and was involved in a major crash with the Haas of Oliver Bearman. He finished 14th and 10th in Melbourne and Shanghai.
Neither driver scored in the Chinese sprint.
As in football, the Argentine fanbase is one of the most parochial in the sport, often flooding the comments sections of any post mentioning Colapinto. Journalists and pundits have also faced criticism from fans for any negative remarks.
In Miami last year, Jack Doohan was forced to hire bodyguards due to safety concerns from fans who wanted him replaced by Colapinto. They got their wish days later.
F1 is currently in a five-week break due to the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian grands prix. The next race meeting will be a sprint weekend in Miami between May 2-4 (AEST).
