Alpine Denies Sabotaging Colapinto, Blames Fans for Abuse

0:00It's April 2nd, from game day to every day. This is F1 News Today, powered by AI. Alpine's Formula One team fired back at wild claims their sabotaging rookie driver, Franco Calapinto's car. Argentinian fans lit up social media after the Chinese Grand Prix, where Calapinto crossed 10th 49 seconds behind teammate, Pierre Gasly. Partly from a clash with Esteban Okan, Calapinto called out missing performance bits on his ride in high-speed corners, fueling talk of unequal setups. Fans raged online, doving his car a bicycle or slamming the team as a meat grinder for their second driver. That backlash turned ugly with abuse flying at Calapinto after his Japan tangle, with Oliver Bareman, a 50G shunt no one blamed him for. Same vibe hit Okan. Post-China crash, drawing death threats that Alpine now regrets not slamming sooner. In a straight-talk open letter, the team clarified both cars run identical gear, save minor

1:01low-impact parts from a gearbox swap in China. They trash Shabatosh talk is pointless, since points are the goal, stressing full trust in Calapinto alongside Gasly, driver swapped out of freely at the factory, engines humming toward Miami. Alpine sits for fastest, grinding through the break to keep both cars punching for those big points.