Flavio Briatore threatens Alpine 'action' after costly Franco Colapinto error

Flavio Briatore has stated he will consider the “course of action” he will take with Franco Colapinto following his collision with team-mate Pierre Gasly during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

At a safety car restart on Saturday, Colapinto got his Turn 1 approach notably wrong and ran into the side of Gasly, who in turn made contact with Lando Norris.

All three drivers were ultimately forced to retire from the race, marking a hugely disappointing result for Alpine at a race in which it looked likely to score points.

Colapinto stated after the race that he apologised to the team and Gasly following the missed opportunity.

Briatore has now suggested that he could take action and punish Colapinto internally.

“I feel very sorry for the team and for Pierre who did a great job all weekend and my apologies also go to Lando [Norris] and McLaren for ruining their race,” he said. 

“I know that Franco has taken full responsibility for it, as he should; in fact he braked far too late considering the context of the race and the safety car restart. 

“It was a very poor move for a driver of his experience. I want to take time to reflect on it and consider what course of action should be taken, so we can learn from it and avoid such a situation in future.”

Colapinto concedes to being 'out of control' at restart

Prior to the incident, Gasly and Colapinto were both running inside the top 10 and looked to be on course for a double-point result.

However, its non-finish gifted an opportunity to its rivals, with Racing Bulls stretching its advantage in the fight for sixth place.

Colapinto was slapped with a 10-second time penalty for the race, but as he failed to serve it due to his DNF, it has been converted into a five-place grid drop for Sepang.

Explaining what he experienced behind the wheel, Colapinto said: “I locked up with cold tyres, cold brakes, and was out of control. 

“I know the team has done a good job all weekend with the performance of the car.

“I am really sorry for what happened as we were in a good position to score double points.”