After being ordered not to pass Pierre Gasly, Alpine teammate Franco Colapinto ignored those requests and out-muscled him to the inside of the uphill first turn, on lap 54 of 56, at the United States Grand Prix.
Despite battling a seeming eternity away from the points, it did not feel as if the incident was going to be anything high-profile, but the team’s social media activity suggests that they are not pleased about their Argentine driver’s ignoring their order.
Releasing a statement to their ‘X’ account, the team’s Managing Director Steve Nielsen, said: “Today, like a lot of teams, we had to adapt our strategy based on the conditions and what we saw on track with the Hard tyre not looking to be a favourable race tyre.
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“We gave the instruction for the drivers to maintain position as we were managing fuel with both cars and the added variable of the number of laps remaining with the leaders in close proximity.
“As a team, any instruction made by the pit wall is final and today we are disappointed that this didn’t happen so it’s something we will review and deal with internally.”
Posting this on social media is not earth-shattering in its drama. It does not suggest that Colapinto is suddenly under-pressure once more of losing his seat. The fact that he was competitive versus the senior driver in Gasly only helps his case for a seat in 2026, despite the car’s degrading performance.
But it is yet another sign that Alpine are currently in a mess and cannot wait for Mercedes engines as part of the new regulations for next season. Performance-wise, despite scoring 20 points, they are rooted to the very bottom of the constructors’ championship and have not scored a point since the Belgian Grand Prix, seven races ago.
Steve Nielsen pic.twitter.com/PYMkBQtdmR
— BWT Alpine Formula One Team (@AlpineF1Team) October 20, 2025
Speaking to the-race.com, post-race, Colapinto gave his side of the story: “We had quite a bit more pace than Pierre in the last stint. And had Bortoleto really close behind, attacking very hard.
“He was much quicker than is and it was holding me up with how slow Pierre was going. I think it was best for the situation to have me in front.”
Regardless of the team order ‘mini controversy’, the reality of Alpine having both of its cars lapped demonstrates the lack of performance that has dominated so much of its 2025 and explains why they are bottom.
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