Franco Colapinto will not be stood down for the next Formula One race, it is understood. That is believed to have been one of the options briefly on the table, after Alpine chief Flavio Briatore warned there would be consequences for the Argentine racer after his mistake took team-mate Pierre Gasly out of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, along with Lando Norris.
Baku incident fallout
It was the defining incident of the Baku race, given Norris' furious comments about Colapinto in the media pen afterwards. He did not mention the Alpine race by name, but he was the clear target when Norris said there are "some drivers who shouldn't be in Formula One". Those comments sparked a furious backlash online as thousands of abusive comments were directed at the Brit.
Norris also called for drivers who cause crashes at safety car restarts to be given race bans. While the stewards have the power to do that, if they deem a driver to have caused a collision "with apparent deliberate or reckless intent", it is clear that did not apply to this incident. In any case, Colapinto was swiftly given a 10-second time penalty.
Grid penalty and apology
That has been converted into a five-place grid penalty for the next race in which he takes part, as he could not serve the punishment in the Baku race. And that will be served in Malaysia this weekend with the idea of standing Colapinto down as a punishment believed to now be off the table, now that cooler heads have prevailed.
The 48 hours since the race has also given Norris the opportunity to calm down and think more rationally about the incident. He posted a statement on his Instagram Story on Monday morning, explaining that he had spoken with Colapinto privately to say sorry for suggesting that he was not deserving of his place on the F1 grid.
The Brit wrote: "Tough weekend overall in Baku and of course a disappointing and early end to the race. After the race, I sent Franco a message apologising for the comments I made that I simply should not have said. 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. Me and Franco came to a good understanding, are still good friends and are both excited to get back racing this weekend."
Alpine condemns online abuse
Meanwhile, in a statement, Alpine denounced the abuse sent to both Norris and Colapinto over the incident. The team said: "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."
