Franco Colapinto admits 'surprise' after furious Lando Norris remarks

Franco Colapinto has admitted he was taken aback by the ferocity of Lando Norris' comments in the media pen after the Alpine driver eliminated the reigning F1 drivers' champion from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Norris was sent into retirement in Baku after Colapinto locked his cold front brakes into Turn 1 at the safety car restart, lost control and speared into team-mate Pierre Gasly, who was in turn deflected into the McLaren driver.

Moments later, in the post-race media pen, Norris did not hold back, arguing that Colapinto should be handed a race ban and questioning whether he should be racing in F1 at all.

The remarks spread quickly and triggered a wave of online abuse aimed at both drivers, prompting Alpine to issue a statement condemning the hate directed at Colapinto, as well as at other members of the paddock.

Two days on, Norris walked back his comments. He had already privately spoken with Colapinto prior to posting a public apology on social media, taking full ownership of what he had said.

"After the race, I sent Franco a message apologising for the comments I made that I simply should not have said," wrote Norris.

"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."

Colapinto addresses Norris' 'heat of the moment' remarks

Asked about the episode, Colapinto told media, including RacingNews365, that the comments had caught him off guard given Norris' own history with online abuse.

"He was in the heat of the moment," said Colapinto. "Of course, he knows what comments create because he suffered from it, or he was probably the driver that was speaking the most about hate a couple of years ago, just a few seasons ago.

"So I was a bit surprised, but then of course he apologised, and I think unfortunately, he also got a lot of hate for it. But I also had...

"It's a tricky situation with the outside world, and that's why I think we need to keep it safe inside [between the drivers] with the things we say. [But] I understand it in the heat of the moment to say things like that."

Asked whether the pair had since cleared the air, Colapinto replied: "Yeah, yeah, yeah. We chatted, and it's all good."

On the wider issue of abuse aimed at drivers, the 23-year-old said it remains an ongoing struggle for the grid.

"We talk [about it] the same every weekend, and it's something that has been there for a long time," Colapinto pointed out.

"Of course, there are times when it's worse than others. As drivers, we have the responsibility to make it better, so we'll keep working on it together to try and improve it.

"It's tricky. It comes from every fan base, from every driver or whatever. It comes from some [groups] worse than others, because they are more passionate than others. But it's something tricky to control from our side..."