Franco Colapinto fans told ‘do not send death threats’ after Esteban Ocon clash

Franco Colapinto’s management has issued a stark warning to fans after Esteban Ocon received death threats following their Chinese Grand Prix clash.

Ocon and Colapinto engaged in a thrilling mid-race battle for a top-six result at the Shanghai circuit where the Alpine driver valiantly defended in an Alpine-Haas-Haas-Alpine battle.

Franco Colapinto management warning after Esteban Ocon clash

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Colapinto and Ocon went wheel-to-wheel, but the Argentine driver was able to keep his nose ahead and eventually broke clear of Ocon’s challenge.

The two, who had started on the hard tyres, pitted on laps 31 and 32, with Ocon the first in. He saw his moment to attack Colapinto as the Alpine driver exited the pits, with Ocon diving up the inside in a gap that just wasn’t there.

The two collided and spun, both losing positions. While Colapinto recovered to score a point in 10th place, his first in Alpine colours, Ocon was second last in the official classification after being handed a 10-second penalty.

The Frenchman, who was immediately over to Colapinto to apologise in parc fermé, admitted the crash was entirely his fault.

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“I was fighting with Franco the whole race, so that’s clearly my fault on that last incident. I was a bit overoptimistic. And, yeah, the gap was not really there,” Ocon told the media.

He added: “It was more of a desperate move because we were like fifth or sixth actually on track before the Safety Car came, on real positions that’s where we were, and there was only one more point to grab.

“So that was the only point with Franco to try and get. So it was either I get him, or it was nothing today.

“So, you know, it was taking about all the risk, but it should have ended that way.

“I apologised. I told him that I was glad that he scored a point because he deserves it.”

“I was fighting with Franco the whole race, so that’s clearly my fault on that last incident. I was a bit over-optimistic and the gap was not really there.

“There was one point to catch, which for me and him there should have been a lot more today.

“I’m glad he still scored a point, because he drove a good race.”

Colapinto accepted the apology.

“I didn’t see the replay, he just hit me on the rear right and broke my car,” he said. “It is what it is. He apologised and it’s all good, but of course, really annoying to have lost a few points for that.”

However, not all of Colapinto’s fans are as magnanimous as the driver.

Last season, Argentine supporters sent death threats to Colapinto’s predecessor at Alpine, Jack Doohan, and his family over a fake X post in the wake of Colapinto’s qualifying crash at Imola. They also targeted Yuki Tsunoda for online abuse when the Japanese driver voiced his displeasure at Colapinto impeding him.

As such, the 22-year-old’s management team at Bullet Sports Management, led by Jamie Campbell-Walter, preemptively put out a post on X urging Colapinto’s fans not to target Ocon.

“Public service announcement,” read the message, “please do not send hateful messages or death threats to Esteban, his family, or the Haas team.

“It will not change the incident and only reflects poorly on Franco’s fandom. Thank you for maintaining positive and respectful support.”

Formula 1 is dealing with a growing online abuse problem as keyboard warriors target drivers, leading to the several drivers shutting down their social media accounts.

The FIA’s United Against Online Abuse campaign is challenging the issue as the FIA’s Erin Bourk explained to PlanetF1.com.

“There are probably many challenges [for a driver], but I do think this is one of the most pressing ones, and it’s one that is proliferating, and the type of abuse is changing rapidly. It’s definitely up there for them in terms of their careers.”

She warned that prison sentences could await those found guilty of online threats.

“Legal prosecutions are one of the mainstays in any response, and there have been convictions for hate speech and abuse from 12 weeks to 20 months to four years,” she said. “So there’s precedent there that things can be done, but it needs to be a partnership between all the different actors getting that right through the pipeline.

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