Briatore draws line under Colapinto's Baku crash as Alpine chase Racing Bulls

Alpine executive chairman Flavio Briatore has closed the chapter on Franco Colapinto’s costly crash in Baku, declaring the team’s focus is firmly on overhauling Racing Bulls in the constructors’ standings over the final eight races of the season.

Colapinto triggered a three-car accident at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix that eliminated team-mate Pierre Gasly and McLaren’s Lando Norris, with all three drivers retiring on the spot. Both Alpine cars had been in contention for points before the incident, leaving the door open for Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad to claim seventh and extend the gap between the two teams to 15 points.

In his immediate post-race statement, Briatore had said he would “take time to reflect on it and consider what course of action should be taken.” But after internal meetings at Alpine’s Enstone factory, the team opted against any public disciplinary action, concluding that a distraction would only hurt their championship push.

“Whatever we do is internal to the team,” Briatore said in Malaysia on Friday. “Sure, I was very disappointed with what happened in Baku, but [this is] another race. We need to forget. We need to always look to the future, and the past is the past.”

“I was upset, yes, like I believe everybody in the team, including Franco, for the mistake he made. But this is the past. What can we do? Whatever we’ve done, it is impossible to [turn it] back.”

Despite the setback, Briatore remains confident Alpine can reel in their rivals. “We’re fighting for fifth position with Racing Bulls, we gave away a lot of points,” he said. “But we still have eight races. We have plenty of time.”

Colapinto arrives at the Malaysian Grand Prix carrying a five-place grid penalty from the Baku collision. With his points-scoring prospects already diminished, Alpine used the Sepang weekend to fit a fresh combustion engine to his car, incurring an additional 10-place grid drop. The Argentine will therefore start well down the order, making any meaningful contribution to the constructors’ battle difficult this weekend.