FIA Comes Under Fire as Franco Colapinto Receives Death Threats

Alpine Formula One driver Franco Colapinto has been receiving hate comments on Instagram for nearly crashing into Oscar Piastri during the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring. Piastri’s fans targeted the Argentinian driver on his most recent post, with some even typing out death threats.

The incident between Colapinto and Piastri occurred in the last stage of the race in Spielberg. Piastri was held up by the back-marker traffic while battling for the top spot with Lando Norris. Colapinto and Yuki Tsunoda were fighting for a position outside of the points at the same time.

When the blue flags are out, cars that are about to get lapped must clear the way for the leading cars. However, occupied by his battle, Colapinto nearly made contact with Piastri when the McLaren driver tried to pass him.

Piastri was then forced onto the grass in an attempt to prevent a collision. Colapinto eventually gave way after noticing the MCL39 in his mirror. He received a five-second penalty from the FIA stewards for forcing a car off the race track.

Despite the penalty, Piastri’s fans were not satisfied. They vented frustration on Colapinto’s most recent post. The comments section became a war zone, with Colapinto’s fans calling for the FIA’s intervention for the hate comments. Some comments are posted below:

One fan posted:

“F1, FIA this is death threat don’t go. Not to say anything?????” [sic]

Another fan asked for Colapinto to be respected:

“FIA we ask respect towards Franco Colapinto for verbal aggressions and threats. F1.”

An Argentinian fan commented:

“FIA, F1. Are hate and bad comments only punished when they’re from an Argentinian? Be fair and treat everyone equally.”

This fan was furious about the hate Colapinto was receiving:

“F1, Sky Sports F1, ESPN F1, FIA. WE KINDLY INVITE YOU TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE COMMENT SECTION AND READ THE AGGRESIVE COMMENTS, BULLYING AND HATE OUR DRIVER @francolapinto IS RECEIVING DUE TO THE INCIDENT WITH @oscarpiastri during today’s GP. Now that the tables have turned, we hope you voice your opinion same way you did in the past. ALL DRIVERS DEMAND THE SAME MISTAKE REGARDLESS OF THEIR COUNTRY OF BIRTH!” [sic]

Several F1 drivers have faced online hate in the recent past. Yuki Tsunoda was targeted by Colapinto’s fans online after he revealed his frustration at being blocked by the Alpine driver at Imola in the first practice session. However, Colapinto urged his fans to have respect for other drivers. He said:

“I know they are extremely passionate, and they are always very harsh on people. They have to give respect, and that’s what we all want.

“There is a lot of hate on social media … so of course we always try and want, for all the drivers, to keep it respectful and keep it calm there.”