F1 – Alpine’s Franco Colapinto said the days after his Azerbaijan Grand Prix crash were among the most difficult of his career, as he faced questions and social media abuse following a collision that wiped out teammate Pierre Gasly and McLaren’s Lando Norris.
The incident occurred after a safety car restart in Baku, with Colapinto locking up at turn one before ploughing into French teammate Gasly in a crash that also collected reigning Formula One champion Norris.
Norris initially called for Colapinto to be given a one-race ban for triggering the crash, but later apologised for the comments that he said he made in the heat of the moment.
“There are some moments that are trickier than others, the most important is to grow from those and to improve as a driver and as a person,” Colapinto told reporters on Thursday ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Sepang, Malaysia.
“So I think it’s been one of those that you have to move on and learn from it. It also makes you stronger.”
The 23-year-old said he took full responsibility for the “silly mistake” which had “very big consequences,” pointing out that both McLaren drivers Norris and Oscar Piastri also locked up at turn one during the race.
Colapinto revealed he was surprised by Norris’ initial comments calling for a race ban, noting that the McLaren driver had previously spoken out against online backlash.
&uuid=(email))