Pierre Gasly reveals shocking extent of 'disturbing' abuse after Alpine incident

Pierre Gasly has spoken out about the wave of online abuse directed at him, his family, and his girlfriend following Alpine's controversial strategy split at the Spanish Grand Prix, calling the level of threats "completely inappropriate" and "disturbing" for F1.

The Frenchman found himself at the centre of a social media storm after Alpine's gamble on a late safety car at the Madring backfired spectacularly.

Gasly was left on a mammoth 55-lap hard-tyre stint that never paid off, eventually pitting under green-flag conditions and finishing a distant P12, compounded by a five-second pit-lane speeding penalty.

The frustration was laid bare on team radio. When it became clear no safety car was coming to salvage the strategy, Gasly told race engineer Josh Peckett: "Don't even talk to me. Radio over."

What fuelled much of the subsequent backlash was the impact on team-mate Franco Colapinto, who was running in a genuine points position but found himself stuck behind a non-competitive Gasly in the closing stages while Oscar Piastri closed in, all before the Frenchman eventually pitted out of the way.

With Alpine never issuing a team order for Gasly to move aside, Colapinto grew increasingly irate with race engineer Stuart Barlow.

"Guys… I don't want to lose time," Colapinto said, before the situation escalated rapidly. "Swap. Swap. Hello? Swap. Swap!" When no instruction came, his anger boiled over. "Honestly? Oh my God. Hey! Swap! For ***** sake! If I lose this to Piastri…"

Barlow eventually informed Colapinto that Gasly was pitting, but the damage to team harmony was done. "This is ******* unbelievable! Yeah, great! For ***** sake!" Colapinto added.

Despite the hindrance, the 23-year-old managed to fend off the McLaren driver, bringing home his A526 in an impressive seventh position.

Gasly: 'A certain line that should not be crossed'

Speaking to media, including RacingNews365, ahead of this week's Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, Gasly confirmed the matter had been resolved internally.

"No, we obviously discussed it with the team," he said. "There wasn't a call for an actual swap. It's all been discussed with the team, and it's all clear."

But the one-time grand prix winner was far more forthcoming on the torrent of abuse that followed online, which extended well beyond his inbox.

"Personally, I find it a little bit disturbing for the sport," Gasly added when asked about the ferocious social media backlash.

"I'm a top athlete, so I know I'm exposed. It's always been the case, but to that extent of threats and attacks, I find it a little bit, well, even completely inappropriate, especially when it reaches out to family members, girlfriend, etc. I don't think that should be the case.

"I leave it there, but things were not that way in the past, and I think as a sport, we just need to find a way to make it a healthier place because you're exposed; you know you're going to be attacked.

"You can be liked; you can be disliked; it's completely fine. But there is a certain line that should not be crossed just because you're behind a screen and a keyboard, and these lines are crossed a bit too many times."