"Franco Colapinto is as bad as his fans": Fans react to the Alpine driver's shocking F1 Monaco GP qualifying

Some of Franco Colapinto's fans have earned a bad reputation in the F1 sphere, with drivers who have had incidents with him receiving abuse from them on social media. However, with the 21-year-old having a torrid qualifying session for the Monaco GP, some F1 fans quickly jibed back at the Alpine driver.

The Argentine made his debut last year with Williams, and the financial backing he brought along due to South American investors following him into the paddock caught the eye of many outfits. This led Alpine to buy off the 21-year-old from his contract with Williams for a debut with the French outfit later in the season.

Franco Colapinto's time came after a few race weekends as he replaced Jack Doohan from the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix onwards. However, his Imola race weekend's highlight was his crash during qualifying.

Aiming to build some confidence at the Monaco GP, the Alpine driver set his sights at his second race weekend of the season. But he qualified a dismal 20th at the end of the Q1 session.

Witnessing this, fans were quick to the scene and took several digs at the Argentine:

"Franco Colapinto is almost as bad as his 'fans'."

Deni Bog

@denibogo99

Colapinto is almost as bad as his “fans”.

"Colapinto belongs as a Valet parking attendant. He needs to go!" one fan wrote.

"Colapinto is a joke!!!" another fan wrote.

A plethora of fans further shared their thoughts:

"Jack Doohan better than slow Colapinto," one netizen wrote.

"Fire Colapinto asap," another netizen wrote.

"Colabinto," one fan even gave a new moniker to the Argentine.

The Monaco Grand Prix is a race where the qualifying position mostly determines a driver's finishing position on Sunday (May 25).

---

What is holding back Franco Colapinto at the crown jewel of F1?

Franco Colapinto at the F1 Grand Prix of Monaco - Source: Getty

Franco Colapinto's subpar qualifying result would mean a long afternoon lined up ahead for him on Sunday. With his five-race countdown already ticking, he can not afford many results like this.

However, the Argentine was seemingly thrown into the deep end by Alpine mid-way through the season, and he has not had great mileage with the A525, which makes taking on street tracks even challenging for him.

Opening up on how the close proximity racing at street courses would trouble him, Colapinto said (via Motorsport.com):

"I think Monaco, Baku, Singapore are very high-confidence tracks, and you need to pick up the confidence during laps or in the sessions, and it's not very straightforward. Even less so for me, given that I'm still lacking a bit of that confidence with the car – that is normal after only during one race weekend. There's a lot of pace and a lot of confidence still coming with the car."

Meanwhile, his Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly was also knocked out during Q1 for the Monaco GP. This showcases the subpar pace of the Alpine A525 in comparison to its rivals.