Alpine deny 'sabotage' against Colapinto

Renault-owned Alpine condemned on Thursday online abuse of their Argentine Formula One driver Franco Colapinto for an incident in Japan as well as death threats directed ?at the team's former racer Esteban Ocon in China. They also dismissed suspicions from some fans of 'sabotage' and that Colapinto was not being given equal equipment to teammate Pierre Gasly. Colapinto was caught up in Oliver Bearman's 308kph crash at Suzuka last Sunday, with the Haas driver swerving to avoid the Argentine'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. Alpine, in a lengthy statement, condemned 'hateful messages' aimed at Colapinto and Ocon after the two incidents. "Esteban took full responsibility and apologised to Franco, actively seeking him out in the media pen and also apologising on social media. The resulting abuse that followed was not in the spirit of the sport and was an oversight not to call it out sooner," it said. "Abuse of any kind to all drivers is unacceptable and it was especially disappointing that it comes from a minority of fans of the team towards a driver who has given so much to the team in the past and is ?a Grand Prix winner for Alpine." Alpine also condemned 'hateful behaviour' towards Colapinto after Suzuka. Subsequently, the team also condemns the hateful behaviour towards Franco following the incident with Ollie Bearman at Suzuka. "First of all, the most important thing is the safety and wellbeing of the drivers and thankfully Ollie is okay. "The closing speeds are a characteristic of these cars and as stated by the FIA, it's something that will be closely reviewed in the coming weeks. "The FIA also reviewed the incident involving Franco and Ollie during the race and deemed that no further action was necessary." 'Completely unfounded' questions about sabotage With Formula One now on a break due to the cancellation of April races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia as a result of conflict in the Gulf region, Alpine said they also wanted to address concern about their treatment of the drivers. Bearman's crash highlighted a growing safety concern about F1's new cars, with the battery harvesting and deployment drivers do at different stages around the lap meaning there are times when there are dangerous closing speeds between one car and another. Gasly has scored 15 of Alpine's 16 points in three races so far this season, with Colapinto's lone point scored in China. "Any questions about sabotage or not giving Franco the same car are completely unfounded, which is why the team felt the need to speak out," said Alpine. "There might be times this year when pushing in the development race that upgrades come to one car first, which the team will communicate and be completely transparent about. That being said, the aim will always remain to bring upgrades to both cars where possible. "It's absolutely not in the team's interests to not score points and any suggestion of self sabotage isn't conducive to that ultimate end goal... there's no withholding of information or keeping performance tricks hidden away." Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) lead Carlos Sainz, criticised the FIA after the race for prioritising the spectacle over driver safety.