Flavio Briatore’s ultimatum was aimed at one country in particular.

The Alpine executive advisor, in comments carried by Grande Premio, said continued online attacks from parts of Franco Colapinto’s Argentine following would push the team to cut off the country’s access to its own driver.

“If this continues, the moment will come when Franco stops speaking to Argentine television,” Briatore said. “He will stop speaking to everyone.”

“I’m saying this especially to the Argentines because there are no problems with the Italians or anyone else. If they want to support Franco, they must do it in a respectful and loyal way, not like what I see on social media.”

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Threats reached Gasly’s family and girlfriend

The trigger was Pierre Gasly’s account of what followed the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid. The Frenchman held up his Alpine teammate on an in-lap before pitting, allowing McLaren’s Oscar Piastri to close a 2.3-second gap to as little as two tenths on that lap.

Gasly said the online reaction had crossed a line.

“Personally, I find it a little bit disturbing for our sport,” he told reporters at Baku.

“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.”

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“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.”

Grande Premio quoted him more directly still.

“There were threats towards my family and my girlfriend. There is a line that should never be crossed, and it was crossed.”

A pattern that reaches back to 2025

The abuse aimed at Gasly is only the latest in a chain of incidents involving Colapinto’s online following. Grande Premio has traced the escalation across five separate targets:

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• February 2025: Jack Doohan, the driver Colapinto later replaced at Alpine, was subjected to what was later described as “six or seven emails containing graphic death threats.”
• May 2025: A fabricated post attributed to his father Mick Doohan circulated online, prompting Jack Doohan to plead: “Please stop harassing my family.”
• May 2025: Yuki Tsunoda’s social media was flooded with racist abuse in Spanish after a practice incident with Colapinto.
• April 2026: Esteban Ocon received death threats after a collision at the Chinese Grand Prix, despite apologising; Alpine issued a 1,200-word statement rejecting “completely unfounded” sabotage claims.
• August 2026: FIA stewards were personally targeted after Colapinto was handed a penalty at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Colapinto had already asked fans to stop

The Argentine has been vocal about the pattern for months. Speaking to Motorsport.com in August, he framed the abuse as something drivers had to help solve.

“It’s how society is nowadays. And that is something that, I think, we as athletes, need to speak a bit louder and put a limit on.”

“As drivers, we need to help people understand how much their words can affect others.”

After Gasly went public, Colapinto backed his teammate and called the abuse unacceptable, insisting no on-track disagreement could justify personal threats. Both drivers signalled at Baku that Alpine had already dealt with the sporting side of the Madrid dispute internally.

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