Alpine condemn ‘hateful’ abuse of Colapinto and Ocon over F1 crashes

• Colapinto abused over Bearman’s high-speed crash in Japan

• Former Alpine driver Ocon clashed with Colapinto in China

The Alpine Formula One team have condemned on Thursday online abuse of their Argentinian driver Franco Colapinto for an incident in the Japanese Grand Prix as well as death threats directed at the team’s former racer Esteban Ocon over prior events in China. They also dismissed suspicions from some fans of “sabotage” and claims that Colapinto was not being given the same quality equipment as his teammate Pierre Gasly.

Colapinto was caught up in Oliver Bearman’s 308kph crash at Suzuka on Sunday, with the Haas driver swerving to avoid the Argentinian’s much slower car and hitting the barriers with a force of 50G. Ocon, now Bearman’s teammate at Haas, accepted blame for a clash with Colapinto in Shanghai last month. The Renault-owned Alpine condemned “hateful messages” aimed at Colapinto and Ocon after the two incidents.