Pierre Gasly has hit out at the “disturbing” abuse of his family and girlfriend from Franco Colapinto fans after the last F1 race in Madrid.
Gasly, who is teammates with Colapinto at Alpine, held up the Argentine driver late in the Spanish Grand Prix. Colapinto did not lose a position, finishing seventh, but complained about the situation over team radio – while Gasly finished 12th.
Yet, not for the first time involving supporters of 23-year-old Colapinto, threats on social media were made to the Frenchman and his loved ones.
“Personally, I find it [the abuse] a little bit disturbing for our sport,” Gasly said on Wednesday, ahead of this Saturday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
“I’m a top athlete, so I know I’m exposed; it’s always been the case. But the extent of the threats, attacks, I find completely inappropriate, especially when it reaches out to family members, girlfriend, etc.
“I don’t think that should be the case. Things were not that way in the past, and as a sport we just need to find a way to make it a healthier place because you’re exposed. You know you are going to be attacked.
“You can be liked, disliked; it’s completely fine. But there is a certain line that should not be crossed just because you’re behind a screen and a keyboard, and these lines are crossed too many times.”
Alpine were forced to release a statement condemning online abuse last year after Colapinto fans abused Yuki Tsunoda over an incident at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. The French outfit also published an 11-page statement earlier this season after accusations of “sabotage” towards Colapinto.
Asked about the new situation on Wednesday, Colapinto said: "I think he [Gasly] got a lot of people messaging him. I haven't seen it because I'm not on social media a lot, but it's never nice to get it, even more when it's happening to the team that I'm racing in.
"We are team-mates and we get on very well together. We are playing and focusing on the same result, and [have] the same goal and the same target - that is to make Alpine better. We are always working as a team and it's not nice to see it.
"So, hopefully, they can stop it. The same happened to other drivers - Yuki [Tsunoda] last year, it was quite bad as well at one point, I talked about it.
"The stewards, after Zandvoort, I 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. Definitely, we should be taking more care about the things, the words that come out of the keyboards of everyone.”
Gasly, who achieved his first-ever F1 pole in Monza earlier this month, currently has 41 points compared to 27 to Colapinto’s name, in what has been a strong year so far for Alpine.
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