Jeremy Clarkson has never been one to let an opportunity for a provocative quip pass him by. But the former Top Gear presenter’s latest attempt at humour has left Alpine publicly defending its driver Franco Colapinto.
Clarkson, a long-time supporter of the Enstone outfit, was visiting Alpine during the United States Grand Prix weekend when he joined Sky Sports F1’s live broadcast ahead of Saturday’s qualifying session at the Circuit of the Americas.
The conversation wandered across several topics, including Colapinto’s grid penalty, Martin Brundle’s famous grid walks and Lewis Hamilton’s partner, Kim Kardashian.
It was Colapinto’s penalty, however, that gave Clarkson an opening for a dubious quip that Alpine evidently felt deserved a response.
"Franco’s got a grid penalty for being Argentinian. Probably. Well, I’d give him one for that," Clarkson joked when asked about Alpine's chances at the United States Grand Prix.
"But anyway, that’s just because of what happened when we went there," he added, referencing one of the most controversial episodes in Top Gear’s history.
Clarkson’s dry, irreverent humour has long been part of his public persona, but it is hardly to everyone’s taste. What he may consider a throwaway provocation can land rather differently when it involves a driver’s nationality and a team’s public image.
Patagonia controversy resurfaces
The reference was to Top Gear’s infamous 2014 visit to Patagonia, Argentina, when Clarkson travelled with co-presenters James May and Richard Hammond. The crew’s departure from the country became chaotic after protests erupted and members of the series’ production team were pelted with stones.
At the centre of the controversy was the number plate on the Porsche 928 Clarkson was driving: H982 FKL. Some locals interpreted it as a deliberate reference to the 1982 Falklands War, the conflict between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed islands.
Clarkson and the Top Gear team insisted the registration was a coincidence, denying that it had been selected deliberately. The incident nevertheless became one of the programme’s most notorious international controversies, and Clarkson’s Austin remarks dragged that history back into the spotlight.
For Colapinto, the actual reason for starting further down the grid had obviously nothing to do with his passport. The Argentine was handed a 10-place grid penalty after taking his fourth new control electronics unit of the 2026 season.
Alpine makes its position clear
Alpine was apparently unwilling to leave Clarkson’s punchline hanging without reaffirming its backing for its driver. The team issued a statement shortly after the broadcast, although it stopped short of naming its high-profile guest directly.
"We at Alpine are aware of the comments made by a team guest in a recent television interview in Austin," the team said. "Franco is our driver and has our full support."
The wording was measured, but the timing made the intended connection difficult to miss. Alpine had welcomed Clarkson, a supporter of the team for several years, into its United States Grand Prix operation; it then found itself having to draw a clear line between its guest’s sense of humour and its support for Colapinto.
Clarkson has built a career on saying what others might leave unsaid, often with a mischievous grin and a willingness to court controversy. Yet this time, his joke has produced an awkward sideshow for the team he came to support.
Alpine, meanwhile, has made its own position equally clear: whatever Clarkson thinks of Argentina, its driver can count on the team’s backing.
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