Franco Colapinto responded to Jeremy Clarkson’s comments, who claimed he would impose a grid penalty on the Alpine driver in Formula 1 simply for being Argentine.
Clarkson was invited by the French team during the United States Grand Prix weekend and, in an interview given to Sky Sports F1, joked that “Franco should receive a punishment for being Argentine. Probably. I would give one for that.”
Turns out that after the remark, Alpine quickly issued a statement. “We, at Alpine, are aware of the comments made by a team guest in a recent TV interview in Austin. Franco is our driver and has our full support.”
After the F1 race at COTA, Colapinto himself responded to Clarkson’s remarks. “Clearly this has nothing to do with the team. He gave an interview on his own; it has no relation whatsoever with the team. I think he’s always had this jokey manner, I don’t know him very well, but I’ve been told about it.”
“I didn’t see exactly what he said, but I learned that Jamie [Campbell-Walter, Colapinto’s manager] posted something on social media. I think the best approach is to focus on ourselves. I’m trying to improve the situation, of course it’s something that requires the help of many people, not just mine. We’ll see how things end, but, well… it’s not the best of situations, I suppose,” he added.
