Fans think one F1 driver needs to get ‘off the grid’ after telling him that he ‘ruined’ the Austrian Grand Prix

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The Austrian Grand Prix was defined by several key moments at the start of the race.

McLaren driver Lando Norris won the Austrian Grand Prix from pole position, but it was less straightforward than that for the 25-year-old.

The initial start to the race was aborted after Carlos Sainz’s Williams broke on the grid, and by the time he made it back to the pit lane, his brakes had caught fire, and he couldn’t take the start.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli outbraked himself going into the first hairpin and took out drivers’ championship hopeful Max Verstappen in the process.

Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri had a brilliant fight at the beginning of the race, with the Australian making his way past his teammate briefly at one point.

The Brit quickly found his way back past, and from there, McLaren managed the race to guarantee a comfortable one-two finish ahead of Charles Leclerc.

Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto finished sixth and eighth, respectively, their best-ever finishes in Formula 1, while Yuki Tsunoda will be feeling the pressure after finishing last in the only remaining Red Bull.

Tsunoda was involved in one of the biggest talking points of the race, misjudging a move into turn four and spinning Alpine driver Franco Colapinto, and he picked up a penalty as a result.

However, the young Argentine wasn’t able to capitalise after making an error of his own that drew the wrath of plenty of fans.

READ MORE: Who is Alpine 2025 F1 driver Franco Colapinto? Everything you need to know

Franco Colapinto criticised by Formula 1 fans after Oscar Piastri incident at the Austrian Grand Prix

After Tsunoda was handed a 10-second penalty for spinning Colapinto, he caught back up to the Alpine driver and they continued to battle on the track.

However, they were then caught up in the battle for the lead, and after Norris made his way past both drivers, it was Piastri’s turn.

Colapinto didn’t appear to spot Piastri, and as he drifted further and further right, Piastri was forced onto the grass and did well to keep his car facing the right direction.

He lapped the Argentine before the next corner, but this drew an angry reaction from plenty of fans who had nearly watched the fight for the lead come to an end.

“What was he thinking?” read one comment, while another person said, “What is he doing…?”

Another fan said, “Ruined the race, what does he even do?” and one comment suggested that Alpine should, “Get him off the grid.”

“Should be a harsh penalty,” said another fan, with Colapinto only handed a five-second penalty, while another comment echoed Nico Rosberg’s thoughts about Max Verstappen from the Spanish Grand Prix, who said, “He should be black flagged.”

The 22-year-old earned a new nickname from one fan who said, “Crashapinto doing Crashapinto things.”

“What an imbecile. Has he offered anything since coming back?” was another comment, with the final point very poignant for Alpine chief Flavio Briatore.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Alpine F1 Team from team principal to lineage

What Franco Colapinto said on the team radio after Oscar Piastri scare

Colapinto is under pressure to secure his seat, with Alpine maintaining that he’s only on a race-by-race contract.

He’s expected to be racing at Silverstone next Sunday for the British Grand Prix, but Colapinto will know he needs to score his first point of the season soon.

Ted Kravitz was speaking on Sky Sports F1 (29/6 3:31 pm) during the race, and relaying what was said after the incident, he explained: “Just talking of Alpine, we had an explanation from Franco Colapinto on the team radio feed as to what happened with Oscar Piastri.

“Colapinto simply said, ‘I couldn’t see him, I didn’t see him, I didn’t know he was there, I couldn’t see where he was,’ so that’s the excuse, but he still got the penalty.”

Colapinto can’t afford too many more mistakes, otherwise he’ll be the latest victim of the increasingly cut-throat Formula 1 driver market.