F1 / NEWS & CONTEXT

Briatore threatens to stop interviews with Argentinian television

Alpine adviser Flavio Briatore warns that interviews with Argentinian television could stop if the online attacks on Pierre Gasly continue. This follows Gasly holding up his team-mate Franco Colapinto during the Spanish GP.

GPBeat · Newsroom24 Sept 2026, 15:04 · 2 min

According to RacingNews365 and the Spanish-language edition of Motorsport.com, Briatore issued his warning on 23 September in an interview with ESPN Argentina. He was addressing Argentinian supporters in particular: if online misconduct continues, Alpine could stop giving interviews to Argentinian television. It has not been established that any interview ban has actually been introduced.

Gasly told The Race in a separate conversation that he, his family and his girlfriend had received threats and online attacks after the Spanish Grand Prix. Who sent the messages and how many people were involved have not been independently established.

RacingNews365 emphasises the seriousness of Briatore’s warning. The Argentinian outlet TN explicitly states in its subheading the condition under which interviews could stop. The substance of their reporting is the same; the main difference is one of emphasis. Both articles draw on the same ESPN interview for Briatore’s words.

Held up, but no order to let him through

The on-track trigger came in the closing stages of the Spanish GP on 13 September. Gasly held up Colapinto, prompting the Argentinian to complain about the time lost and the pressure from Oscar Piastri behind him. Colapinto finished seventh and scored six points; Gasly was twelfth.

Alpine had already explained after the race why Gasly stayed out for so long without changing tyres. According to Briatore, the team kept him out in the hope of benefiting from a late safety car and still scoring points. That was the team’s explanation of its strategy, not proof that coordination within the team had worked well.

According to Edd Straw’s reconstruction in The Race, Gasly was warned that Colapinto was behind him, but was not instructed to let him through. RacingNews365 and TN also report that no such team order was given. Holding him up therefore cannot be portrayed as ignoring an instruction.

Assessments of the consequences differ. Colapinto told The Race that Piastri had almost overtaken him. Straw, by contrast, writes that the McLaren driver did not come close to actually attempting an overtake. According to that reconstruction, the incident did not cost Colapinto a position.

According to The Race, Colapinto says that he and Gasly get on well. He says he has not seen the messages, but hopes the attacks will stop. He also emphasises that the problem is not confined to his own fans.

Sources 08

SOURCEBriatore gives Argentinian fans an ultimatum: "If this continues..."RacingNews365 Nederland — Stefan Kerk · Source date as found: 2026-09-24
SOURCE2026 Formula One Spanish Grand Prix, SundayBWT Alpine Formula One Team · Source date as found: 2026-09-13
SOURCEFORMULA 1 TAG HEUER GRAN PREMIO DE ESPAÑA 2026 — Race ResultFormula 1 · Source date as found: Race weekend 11–13 September 2026
SOURCEGasly hits out at 'disturbing' abuse over Colapinto incidentThe Race — auteursmetadata: Edd Straw · Source date as found: 2026-09-23
SOURCEBriatore has had enough of Argentinian ultras: "If this continues, Colapinto will stop talking"Motorsport.com, Spaanstalige editie — Rubén Carballo Rosa · Source date as found: 2026-09-23
SOURCEAlpine issues open letter to F1 fans over “hateful messages” after Suzuka crashCrash.net · Source date as found: 2026-04-02
SOURCEThe FIA president backed Gasly after the threats: "Abuse has no place"TyC Sports · Source date as found: 2026-09-23
SOURCEBriatore set boundaries for Argentinian fans after Gasly reported threats: “Support Colapinto with respect”TN · Source date as found: 2026-09-23

Source context

The original ESPN interview was not supplied; the reports about Briatore share that source. The full on-board radio communications and original timing data are also missing.

Quotations in Dutch or Spanish have been translated into English from the supplied wording. Where only a Dutch rendering was supplied, the underlying original-language quotation was unavailable.

Claims and supporting evidence 11

According to RacingNews365, TN and Motorsport.com, Flavio Briatore warned that Alpine could stop giving interviews to Argentinian television if the online misconduct continues. Motorsport.com dates the conversation with ESPN Argentina to Wednesday 23 September 2026. Alpine formally lists Briatore as Executive Advisor; ‘team boss’ is the description used by RacingNews365, among others. The warning remains attributed to Briatore through the media reports consulted, which cite ESPN.

This source finding should be read within the scope and source context described. Key statement, speaker and source chain: the interview reportedly took place on 23 September 2026; the articles were published on 23–24 September 2026. The original interview was not checked directly. The articles share the same ESPN origin for this statement and do not constitute independent confirmation of separate remarks.

[1][5][2]

The quoted statement announces a possible halt to interviews if the behaviour continues. It does not prove that a boycott has already been imposed. No start date, specific implementation decision or actual refusal to give an interview has been established in the supplied reporting.

This source finding should be read within the scope and source context described. Conditional warning versus an implemented measure: the supplied material as of 24 September 2026. This is an inference from the conditional wording, not proof that no instructions exist behind the scenes. The practical meaning of ‘everything’ (‘alles’ in the supplied Dutch wording) remains unclear.

[1]

The Race reported on 23 September that Alpine driver Pierre Gasly had described threats and online attacks against himself, his family and his girlfriend after holding up Colapinto in Spain. The article explicitly states that Gasly was responding to a question from The Race. This was a separate conversation from Briatore’s ESPN interview.

This source finding should be read within the scope and source context described. Gasly’s report of threats: after the Spanish GP on 13 September; published on 23 September 2026. The source supports Gasly’s account, not an independently established scale or origin of the messages. No count or investigation into the senders was supplied.

[4]

The visible extract from the official F1 results confirms that, at the Spanish GP at Madring in Madrid, Colapinto finished seventh, completed 57 laps and received six world championship points. Alpine’s race report of 13 September confirms Gasly’s twelfth place. Both finishing positions reported by RacingNews365 are therefore supported, but not both directly by the supplied official classification.

This source finding should be read within the scope and source context described. Verifiable results from the race that triggered the dispute: the Spanish GP, 13 September 2026. The official extract cuts off in the row for eighth place. Gasly’s lap count and points, and Piastri’s finishing position, cannot be checked from it. Nor does a final classification show what would have happened without the hold-up.

[3][2]

Alpine reported on 13 September that Gasly started on new hard tyres and switched to new soft tyres on lap 55. Colapinto switched to new hard tyres on lap 14. In the same race report, Briatore explained that the team kept Gasly out in the hope of benefiting from a late safety car and scoring points. This explanation had therefore already been published before the warning to supporters.

This source finding should be read within the scope and source context described. Alpine’s previously published strategy explanation: the race and team statement of 13 September 2026. Alpine is a source with a direct interest in the matter. The report confirms the explanation given, not that the strategy was optimal or that coordination within the team worked well. The lap specified differs from TN’s description of a pit stop on the final lap.

[2]

According to The Race’s reconstruction, Gasly was warned about Colapinto behind him, but was not instructed to let him through and was not told about the threat behind Colapinto. RacingNews365 and TN likewise report that no official instruction was given. Based on these sources, holding up Colapinto therefore cannot be equated with ignoring a team order.

This source finding should be read within the scope and source context described. No supported accusation of ignoring a team order: the closing stages of the Spanish GP; reporting on 23–24 September 2026. The full original on-board radio communications were not supplied. The absence of a reported instruction does not establish Gasly’s intentions and does not rule out poor communication or frustration. RacingNews365 already includes this nuance.

[4][1][8]

According to The Race, Colapinto hopes the attacks will stop and says that he and Gasly get on well. He says he has not seen the messages himself because he spends little time on social media. He also emphasises that the problem is not confined to his own fans.

This source finding should be read within the scope and source context described. Colapinto’s stance on the online attacks: published on 23 September 2026, ahead of the Azerbaijan GP. This supports Colapinto’s public stance, not his knowledge of the individual messages or a finding about who sent them.

[4]

According to The Race, Colapinto stands by his criticism of what happened on track: he says he was almost overtaken by Piastri, with a gap of two tenths of a second. The article considers Colapinto’s anger at being held up justified, but also states that Piastri never came close to actually attempting an overtake. This is a difference in the assessment of the threat between the driver and the journalistic reconstruction; according to that same reconstruction, the incident did not cost Colapinto a position.

This source finding should be read within the scope and source context described. On-track criticism and differing assessments of the threat from Piastri: a look back at the Spanish GP in The Race on 23 September 2026. The statement about almost being overtaken is Colapinto’s assessment. The assessment of the overtaking opportunity is the article’s; its metadata names Edd Straw as the author. Original footage and full timing data were not independently checked.

[4]

On 2 April, Crash.net published an open letter from Alpine, described as being reproduced in full. In it, the team condemned both attacks on Colapinto after Japan and attacks on Esteban Ocon after China. Alpine explicitly addressed the entire F1 community and stated that it moderated comments on its own channels. The broad audience addressed in that letter differs from Briatore’s explicit focus on Argentinian supporters in September.

This source finding should be read within the scope and source context described. Alpine’s earlier broad appeal and existing moderation: 2 April 2026, as background to September 2026. The letter was read through Crash.net, not on a supplied original Alpine page. The statement does not prove that the moderation was effective. The difference in the audience addressed does not refute the later report of threats and does not, in itself, prove a formal policy change.

[6][1]

RacingNews365 emphasises the seriousness of Briatore’s warning by saying it is not an idle one. TN, whose page metadata identifies Argentina as its country of origin, explicitly states in its subheading the condition under which interviews could stop. In his Motorsport.com article, Rubén Carballo Rosa uses the stronger label ‘Argentinian ultras’ (‘ultras argentinos’). The core warning is the same; the differences lie mainly in wording and emphasis, not in opposing interpretations of the facts.

This source finding should be read within the scope and source context described. Comparison of RacingNews365, TN and Motorsport.com: articles published on 23–24 September 2026. This is a comparison of the named publications, not of national opinions. They share the same ESPN source chain for Briatore’s words. ‘Ultras’ is a label in Carballo Rosa’s article, not a verified category of senders. The Infobae article, which was not supplied, was excluded from the comparison.

[1][8][5]

TyC Sports reported on 23 September that FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem had expressed support for Gasly and his family on social media. The statement reproduced calls on governing bodies, teams, drivers, fans and social platforms to take responsibility for tackling online hate. It contains no specific sanction or confirmation that Briatore’s possible halt to interviews is being implemented.

This source finding should be read within the scope and source context described. Statement of support from the FIA president via TyC Sports: 23 September 2026, according to TyC Sports’ publication date. The original social media post was not supplied. This is TyC Sports’ account of a statement of support, not an independent investigation into the threats.

[7]

This article was produced with AI assistance. Source references make its supporting evidence traceable.