Overview
- An early virtual safety car left Alpine with a split strategy at the Spanish Grand Prix that kept Pierre Gasly on hard tyres for about 55 laps while Franco Colapinto pitted onto fresher rubber.
- Late in the race Gasly’s in‑lap briefly blocked Colapinto and allowed McLaren’s Oscar Piastri to close in, prompting multiple urgent radio demands from Colapinto for a driver swap.
- Gasly finished 12th after a green‑flag stop and a five‑second pit‑lane speeding penalty, while Colapinto held on for seventh and kept Piastri at bay.
- In the days after the race Gasly said he and members of his family received threatening and abusive messages online, described the volume as ‘disturbing,’ and confirmed Alpine discussed the situation internally with no formal swap ordered.
- Colapinto publicly urged fans to stop the harassment and both drivers called for calmer fan behaviour, a development that raises fresh questions about driver welfare, team communication and how teams manage fan reactions on social media.