Formula 1’s governing body the FIA condemned the online harassment directed at its race stewards following their decision to apply the rulebook and penalise Alpine driver Franco Colapinto at Zandvoort.
Colapinto and Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad were both handed drive-through penalties for overtaking under a double-waved yellow flag on lap one of the race.
At the end of the lap, the yellows came out for a big crash involving Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, which neutralised the final marshal sector until the start-finish straight.
The first half of lap two was green again until race control decided to throw a red flag. As the yellows came out, Colapinto completed an overtake on Racing Bulls driver Yuki Tsunoda coming out of Zandvoort’s final corner, while Lindblad drafted past Alpine’s Pierre Gasly before crossing the start-finish line, after both drivers had been forced to take evasive action for debris.
Referring to the Colapinto incident, the FIA stewards wrote: “Car 43 was behind Car 22 entering Turn 14 and overtook Car 22 in the double yellow flag sector before the line at the end of Lap 1.
“Normally, such infringement requires a 10-second stop-go penalty, but the Stewards acknowledge the complications caused by the significant amount of debris on track at this point and take this into account as mitigating circumstances.”
The stewards also offered an identically phrased verdict for Lindblad.
Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls
Photo by: Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images
Colapinto felt his penalty was “extremely harsh” as he overtook Tsunoda a split second after the yellows came out. However, according to the letter of the rulebook both drivers’ penalties were clear-cut cases as the governing body takes safety related infractions particularly seriously.
Colapinto’s Argentinian sponsor Mercado Libre went much further on social media, questioning the FIA stewards’ integrity. “The Stewards are killing the integrity of F1. This season they are proving to be horrible and impacting race results,” said Sean Summers, Mercado Libre’s chief marketing officer. “Incompetence? Dishonesty? Both? Something is seriously broken in that organisation’s culture.”
The sponsor’s inflammatory comments further stoked the flames on social media as the FIA stewards received abusive threats, while Alpine’s own social accounts were also targeted because a vocal subset of Argentinian fans felt the team did not back Colapinto enough in the case.
On Monday, Alpine stated: “We fully trust the FIA and the stewards when it comes to the policing of these rules and the application of sporting penalties during a live race scenario.
“We believe the penalties applied for yellow flag Infringements during the opening laps of the Dutch Grand Prix were indeed harsh, but acknowledge they fit the punishment based on the letter of the law and were consistently applied across all competitors and is something we can review and learn from as a team.”
Franco Colapinto, Alpine
Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images
The FIA, which has established the United Against Online Abuse campaign to tackle online abuse in sport, is understood to be exploring legal options and has released the following statement.
“Following the Dutch Grand Prix, FIA stewards were targeted with online abuse after applying sporting penalties in line with FIA regulations,” a statement read.
“The United Against Online Abuse Coalition condemns all forms of abuse and harassment. Disagreement with decisions is part of sport, but it must never justify threats or personal attacks.
“In 2023, the FIA launched the United Against Online Abuse Coalition after a steward faced targeted abuse following the United States Grand Prix. We urge everyone engaging with our sport to do so with respect and responsibility, online and offline.”
Among the toxic abuse hurled at the FIA, it was suggested Colapinto was penalised because of his nationality, with there being perceived bias against non-British drivers.
Lindblad, who was given an identical penalty for a very similar infraction, is British.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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