Untelevised Colapinto team radio captures sweary Spanish GP rant
Franco Colapinto, Alpine, on track at the Spanish GP
Alpine driver Franco Colapinto sent the bleep machine into overdrive as a team order saga from the Spanish Grand Prix came to light.
While Pierre Gasly declared “radio over” in frustration over his Spanish GP strategy, Colapinto was left enraged behind the sister Alpine, as his requests to swap the cars fell on deaf ears.
Franco Colapinto radio fury emerges after Spanish GP
Fearing he would lose position to McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, it was only when Gasly pitted at the end of the lap, as planned, that Colapinto was released.
Gasly spent almost the entire Spanish Grand Prix running the hard tyres which he started the Madring race on.
Following a Virtual Safety Car earlier in the race to cover Lance Stroll’s retirement, Alpine was holding out for another Safety Car-related gift to bring Gasly into play.
It was a strategy which the Frenchman queried with his race engineer Josh Peckett. The team radio exchange went as follows:
Peckett: “Front grip is going to continue to drop. Keep managing. Come on mate, you’ve got this.”
Gasly: “Why are we not boxing?”
Peckett: “We’re trying to hold out for something here mate. It’s our best hope.”
As Gasly continued to challenge the strategy, time being lost, he was told: “Well you’re going to box into P12 at the moment.”
“I’ll make up some time,” Gasly responds, at which point he is informed that he would need 10 seconds.
“I can’t do that,” he replies.
“You are going to pit into blue flags as well mate. We just need to keep going here,” says Peckett.
In the closing stages of the race, as Gasly is informed that he can finally pit, his frustrations have reached the stage where he no longer wishes to speak with his race engineer, as “radio over” is declared by the 30-year-old.
Peckett: “Three laps to go. We are boxing at the end of this lap. Box at the end of this lap.”
Gasly: “Guys, honestly, I have no words.”
Peckett: “Just watch for Franco behind.”
Gasly: “Don’t even talk to me. Radio over.”
Gasly was not the only irked Alpine driver in this moment. As Peckett had mentioned, Colapinto was now right up behind the other Alpine A526. He was trying to keep Piastri at bay, and did not want an avoidable hazard, to his mind, compromising that mission.
In an exchange between Colapinto and his race engineer Stuart Barlow, one not picked up by the Spanish GP world feed, the Argentine could be heard growing increasingly enraged as his requests to swap the cars failed to trigger such an action from Alpine.
Colapinto: “Guys… I don’t want to lose time.”
Barlow: “Yeah, we’re on it mate.”
Colapinto: “Swap. Swap. Hello? Swap. Swap!”
Colapinto: “Honestly? Oh my God.”
Colapinto: “Hey! Swap! For f**ks sake! If I lose this to Piastri…”
Barlow: “Right, he’s boxing mate, he’s boxing.”
Colapinto: “This is f**king unbelievable! Yeah, great! For f**ks sake!”
More Spanish GP talking points on PlanetF1.com
Russell’s Mercedes future was settled long before Verstappen’s Red Bull decision
Nico Rosberg pinpoints Ferrari’s ‘Achilles heel’ after Spanish GP frustration
Colapinto was successful in holding off Piastri to secure P7, his best result since Canada. Gasly was P12.
Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.
You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!
Read next: Alpine makes new announcement after Spanish Grand Prix
