SEPANG, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Alpine's Franco Colapinto said that the days following his crash at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix had been among "the most difficult" of his career, as he faced questions and social media abuse following the collision that wiped out teammate Pierre Gasly and McLaren's Lando Norris.
The incident occurred after a safety car restart in Baku, with Colapinto locking up at turn one before ploughing into French teammate Gasly in a crash that also collected reigning Formula One champion Norris.
Norris initially called for Colapinto to be given a one-race ban for triggering the crash, but later apologised for the comments that he said he made in the heat of the moment.
"There are some moments that are trickier than others, the most important is to grow from those and to improve as a driver and as a person," Colapinto told reporters on Thursday ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
"So I think it's been one of those that you have to move on and learn from it. It also makes you stronger."
The 23-year-old took full responsibility for the "silly mistake" which had "very big consequences," pointing out that both McLaren drivers Norris and Oscar Piastri also locked up at turn one during the race.
"As soon as we made contact, I came back to (the paddock and took) full responsibility for it," he added.
COLAPINTO 'SURPRISED' BY NORRIS' REACTION
Colapinto revealed he was "a bit surprised" by Norris' initial comments calling for a race ban, noting that the McLaren driver had previously spoken out against online backlash.
"I think he was in the heat at the moment," Colapinto said. "Of course, he knows what comments create, because he suffered from it or he was probably the driver that was speaking the most about hate just a few seasons ago."
The crash sparked a wave of social media abuse, with Colapinto addressing criticism of his passionate Argentine fanbase while pointing out that hate comes "from all the world and from many other fan bases.
"My message is sort of the same, that they sometimes don't realise what you can create by writing on your keyboard and that we are all humans," he said. "It's not easy for us when we get these kinds of things."
Colapinto said he and Norris have since resolved their differences, with the Argentine saying they had chatted and "it's all good."
He also praised Alpine team principal Flavio Briatore's handling of the situation, calling him "probably one of the best I've had in the sport," while dismissing speculation about his future with the team.
"Those things never changed and now we're praying for the future," he said when asked if he had been threatened with being dropped.
"I'm very grateful to be part of this team and with the support of everyone and Flavio from the start. Pierre, as my teammate, we have a very good relationship as well. Everything is good."
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Sepang; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)
