TV boycott over abuse? Flavio Briatore puts his foot down

During the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid just under two weeks ago, there had been discussions about a possible swap of positions between the two Alpine team-mates, Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto. Colapinto had requested a swap over the radio and had been quite explicit in his words. This apparently infuriated Colapinto’s fans. Following the race, Pierre Gasly himself, as well as those closest to him – namely his family and partner – were subjected to vicious abuse online. This is not the first time that Colapinto’s Argentine fans have caused a stir. Jack Doohan and Esteban Ocon have also previously been victims of online abuse.

Now Alpine adviser Flavio Briatore has stepped in. Speaking to ESPN, which holds the Formula 1 broadcasting rights in Argentina amongst other places, he said that Colapinto might no longer speak to the Argentine media.

A TV boycott because of online hate?

The Italian said: “If the Argentines want to support Franco, then they should do so in a fair and loyal way, not like we’re seeing on social media. If not, then at some point Franco will stop speaking to everyone. Because I keep seeing the fans’ anger over one thing or another. And for no reason at all. If people are like that, then at some point we’ll stop giving interviews to Argentine television, because what I see on social media makes no sense.”

Briatore: “Argentina can count itself lucky to have such a promising driver. He’s making good progress and is much better this year. We need to support him.” And then, on the subject of the Argentine fans, Briatore says: “But we need to support him in the right way, not like what we’re seeing on social media. We need to support Franco and welcome the Argentines, but we also need to be fair.”

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