Alpine has had to curb the anger on social networks again for an episode with Fernando Alonso as the protagonist. If after the US GP in Austin, in which the Spaniard was sanctioned by the stewards, it was the Spanish rider himself who had to condemn the insults to the Barcelona stewards Silvia Bellot, this time it was Alpine who denounced " hate, abuse and toxicity" spewed on social media against the team and Ocon.
In a statement issued after Saturday's Sprint Race, in which sparks flew between Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon touching at Turn 4, the French team explicitly condemned "hateful, abusive or toxic comments directed on the Internet towards our drivers, team members, fans; there is absolutely no excuse for them to protest."
Thus, the French team quantifies the attacks received after the Sprint Race at 882 "toxic" comets, of which "162 were seriously toxic". "That is totally unacceptable."
Alpine considers that "it is not an isolated event, unfortunately. We continue to see hate and discrimination online and, as a team, we do not tolerate it."
For this reason, the French team warns that it will take "action against individuals or groups that produce or share publications on social networks that contain or encourage online mistreatment of our drivers, team members or fans."
After the Sprint Race, Otmar Szafnauer, the Alpine team manager, criticized his two drivers equally: "Frankly, both Esteban and Fernando need to do a better job of complementing the fantastic efforts of the entire team by avoiding incidents on track and compromising the performance of the whole team.
He added: "Both drivers have let the team down. I expect more from them tomorrow, where we must do everything we can to win back some points for the championship."
Fernando Alonso, who has two newscasts left in the Alpine team, showed his lack of harmony with Alpine in some statements that showed that it is no longer his priority. "Now, in the penultimate race, I just want to go to Abu Dhabi and try the green car," he said. "So that's my main goal now," referring to the first pre-season tests of 2023 that will take place in Abu Dhabi on November 22, after the last race of the course, on the 20th.
