Lando Norris Apologises to Franco Colapinto After Admitting His Baku Crash Comments Were Wrong

• Lando Norris sent Franco Colapinto a private message apologising for the comments he made after a Baku collision ended both of their races.
• Colapinto triggered the crash on a Safety Car restart, clipping teammate Pierre Gasly, who was knocked into Norris’s McLaren.
• Alpine issued a statement condemning online abuse aimed at drivers and other members of the Formula 1 community after the incident.

A Message Sent, a Friendship Restored

Lando Norris has apologised to Franco Colapinto for comments he made straight after a Baku collision that ended both of their races at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Colapinto triggered the crash on a Safety Car restart when he locked his brakes into the first corner and hit the side of his Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly. Gasly was sent into the outside of Norris’s McLaren, and all three cars were eliminated on the spot.

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Comments Made in the Heat of the Moment

Norris spoke to media in the immediate aftermath of the incident in Saturday’s race. He said “there are some drivers who shouldn’t be in Formula 1” and called for such incidents to result in one-race bans for the driver responsible.

The reigning Formula 1 world champion’s words spread quickly through the paddock and beyond. Colapinto apologised to both Gasly and Norris in his own post-race interviews, and the FIA handed him a five-place grid penalty for this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.

Norris Changes His Tone

On Monday morning, Norris posted a message on Instagram that struck a different note from his post-race remarks. “Tough weekend overall in Baku and of course a disappointing and early end to the race,” he wrote. “After the race, I sent Franco a message apologising for the comments I made that I simply should not have said.”

He continued: “I know better and emotions were running high but that is not an excuse, it was wrong of me. I’ve made mistakes of my own over the years and I know this is very much a part of racing and fighting on the limit.”

Norris closed his post on a personal note. “Me and Franco came to a good understanding, are still good friends and are both excited to get back racing this weekend,” he wrote.

A Season Already Marked by Online Abuse

The collision and Norris’s early reaction set off a wave of criticism on social media, aimed at both Colapinto for his driving and at Norris for his choice of words. Alpine responded on Sunday with a statement condemning the abuse directed at drivers and other members of the sport.

“As a team, we feel it’s necessary to speak out once more about the hate and abuse online following the Azerbaijan Grand Prix,” the team said. “Not only aimed at one of our own drivers, but also members of the Formula 1 community, including media, and to our racing counterparts who we respect, admire, and revel competing against in the pinnacle of motorsport.”

Alpine added: “Mistakes happen when racing at the limit and no matter the result or outcome, nobody should be subject to hateful or abusive comments.” The team said its statement was “not aimed at any one fan base or the supporters of one team or driver,” calling the pattern universal across the sport.

Not the First Warning This Year

This is not the first time Alpine has spoken out on the subject. Colapinto’s own fans have come under scrutiny after FIA stewards and Alpine staff were targeted when the Argentine driver received a drive-through penalty for overtaking under a double yellow flag in Zandvoort. Gasly, too, faced abuse after briefly refusing to let Colapinto past him at the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid earlier this month, and revealed that the threats extended to his family.

Colapinto said after the Madrid fallout that abuse is “never nice to get,” but insisted it is “not just my fans” responsible for it. Alpine repeated that position in its latest statement: “As we have said in previous instances, we strongly condemn the reaction of some fans online and stand in solidarity with Formula One, the FIA, and other teams in wanting to stamp it out. It has become a regular occurrence in recent races and cannot be condoned.”

Two Drivers, Back Racing This Weekend

Formula 1 returns to Malaysia this weekend for the first time in nine years, with the Bahrain Grand Prix relocated to the Sepang International Circuit as part of a busy run of races to close out the season. Norris and Colapinto will line up against each other again in Sepang, both carrying the incident behind them rather than into a fresh weekend.

Norris arrives at Sepang still chasing points in a title fight that has slipped away from him this year, while Colapinto starts five places back after his penalty, with Alpine still looking to close out the constructors’ championship on a stronger note than Baku allowed. Both drivers, by their own accounts, are ready to leave the argument in Azerbaijan.

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Written by

Jack Renn

Jack Renn is an editor at F1 Chronicle and a veteran motorsport journalist with 25 years of experience covering Formula 1 and international motorsport. A member of the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive (AIPS), the global body representing accredited sports journalists, Jack has spent his career reporting from paddocks and press rooms across the F1 calendar. His work spans race analysis, technical insight, and in-depth features, giving readers authoritative coverage grounded in decades of firsthand experience at the highest level of the sport.

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