Franco Colapinto: “They think they are defending me, but they are creating the opposite. They are not helping me or my future”
Franco Colapinto He says enough. The Argentine driver has behind him one of the most passionate fans in the entire world. F1. On any circuit in the world, there are hundreds of Argentines waving their flags and shouting the name of their driver from the rooftops. But on social networks, part of that fan base has caused cases of harassment on social networks towards other drivers on the grid, even with messages that ended up hitting Pierre Gasly and his family, something before which Flavio Briatore He wanted to respond forcefully a few days ago. And weeks after the words of the Alpine boss, Franco’s message arrived.
Franco Colapinto addressed his fans in a video through his social networks in which he wanted to make clear how they should support him and what should not be repeated. And the driver is aware of the enormous support he has from his fans, but at the same time, he knows that if he continues to accumulate insults and strong messages from his fans to other drivers, that will end up harming his career. And the team that wants to have him in their ranks will also look at this aspect, which can affect the dynamics of a team.
“There is something very important that I need to talk to you about. We have to change, we have to improve. I will always be grateful and I really feel lucky to have had you from the beginning, for all the support you give me, for how you help me achieve results, for how you push me to always go for more,” Franco began, addressing his fans. And there, the video changed tone.
There are times when we go overboard, that instead of supporting me, we end up criticizing, we end up attacking other pilots.
“But there are times that we go overboard, that instead of supporting me, we end up criticizing, we end up attacking other drivers, other colleagues, my teammates, my mechanics, my engineers, people I work with every day,” said Colapinto.
“To help me perform better, to help me continue achieving my dreams, my results, to continue scoring points, I need you to help me do this all together.”
Besides, Franc He explained the reason why he decided to take a break from social networks.
“Some time ago I made the decision to get away from the networks“, take a break from social networks, focus on what really matters to me, focus on my dream, on my sports career, focus with the team on achieving the results we want and the objectives we need,” he commented.
I decided to take a break from social media and focus on what really matters to me.
“I want you to continue supporting the team, I want you to continue supporting me, and I am sure that we are going to achieve great results all together,” He added, in a message of unity: “We are going with everything as a big team, to support each other, to support each other, in good times and bad, and I am sure that we will see each other very, very soon in the races closer to home.”
Briatore has already issued a clear warning
Weeks ago, his boss Flavio Briatore He was already very forceful in statements to ‘ESPN’, after the threats and messages that the other pilot received. Alpine, Pierre Gasly.
“I say this especially to Argentines, because there are no problems with Italians or whoever. If you want to support Franco, do it in a respectful and loyal way. Not like I see on social networks”Briatore said weeks ago.
“If this continues like this, there will come a time when Franco will stop talking to everyone. I see a lot of anger from fans, over and over again, for no reason. If it continues to happen, we will stop giving interviews to Argentine television”Briatore commented.
