Alpine F1 reserve Franco Colapinto has publicly apologised for his recent comments made about Uruguay on a podcast. The 21-year-old claimed that Uruguayans would ‘copy’ parts of Argentine culture to claim it as their own.
Colapinto conceded that he did not recognise the impact of his words and thanked Formula One fans in Uruguay for the support they gave him last year whilst he was driving for Williams, having replaced Logan Sargeant.
After driving for Williams for nine months, Colapinto was confirmed as one of Alpine’s reserves earlier this year. But despite not having a spot on the grid at present, the Argentine has still managed to cause a stir away from the track.
Speaking on the Nude Project YouTube channel, he said: “I love Uruguay, but the reality is that there are more Argentines than Uruguayans there. Okay, my friend, but they didn’t invent mate, they didn’t invent dulce de leche, they didn’t invent empanadas, they didn’t invent anything, they copied everything.
“Uruguayans there are very few, I don’t know well the population of Uruguay, three million? That is, Uruguay is like an Argentine province, they are part of Argentina.” Colapinto’s comments caused anger online, with even a senator from the Uruguayan National Party being among those to question the remarks – with Sebastian Da Silva tweeting: “Good for driving. Terrible for knowing anything about life besides the DRS (Drag Reduction System).”
The backlash prompted Colapinto to consider the implications of his comments, and he has since taken to X to apologise. He said: “I wanted to apologize as soon as possible for the stupid things I said about Uruguay. It was obviously meant as a joke… it was a fun podcast with friends! Sometimes I have a hard time understanding the impact of the stupid things I say.
“I didn’t mean to offend anyone, they were messing with me and I got angry… I love Uruguay and the love you gave me last year and what I want most is to have good vibes with all of you.”
The apology has since been viewed by over eight million X users, receiving 134,000 likes and 7,000 reposts, with many of Colapinto’s supporters replying to acknowledge the apology. However, some Uruguayans remain unhappy with the driver and passionately responded.
