Pierre Gasly on online hate directed at his family: “It’s worrying for our sport”

Ahead of this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, the Alpine team were still discussing some lingering issues from the Spanish Grand Prix two weeks ago. Pierre Gasly and his entourage had been subjected to some of the worst abuse online. The Frenchman had some strong words to say about it.

What had happened? Towards the end of the Spanish Grand Prix, Franco Colapinto had caught up with his team-mate Pierre Gasly, who had driven the entire race on the same set of hard tyres and was consequently running slowly. It was also clear that Pierre Gasly still had to make his mandatory pit stop. Formula 1 drivers are obliged to use at least two different tyre compounds in a race. The only exception to this is wet races. Madrid was bone-dry. Consequently, Gasly still had to pit.

The slow-moving Gasly held up his team-mate Franco Colapinto simply by being there, as the Madrid driver left him hardly any room to overtake or swerve. Colapinto complained loudly over the radio, telling Gasly to let him through. Then Gasly pulled in for a pit stop. Colapinto finished seventh, successfully holding off Oscar Piastri (8th), whilst Gasly finished 12th.

Insults and threats against his family

In his media session ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Gasly said: “We’ve discussed this internally within the team. There was no call to swap positions. Everything is clear within the team.” For Colapinto’s fanbase, however, the matter seemed anything but clear. Gasly himself, along with his family and partner, were subsequently subjected to vicious abuse and threats online, as Gasly revealed.

Gasly: Disturbing and inappropriate

Speaking in Baku, the Frenchman said: “Personally, I find this worrying for our sport. I’m a top-level sportsman, so I know I’m in the spotlight. It’s always been that way. But I find this level of threats and attacks completely inappropriate, especially when it affects family members, my girlfriend and so on. I don’t think it should be like this.” Gasly’s mother and partner were threatened online.

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The Frenchman said: “I’ll leave it at that, but it wasn’t like this in the past, and I think, as a sport, we simply have to find a way to create a healthier environment, because you’re in the spotlight; you know you’ll be criticised; you can be liked, you can be disliked – that’s perfectly fine. But there’s a certain line that shouldn’t be crossed just because you’re sitting behind a screen and a keyboard. And those lines are being crossed a bit too often.”