With both drivers running at the back of the field — 17th and 18th at the Circuit of the Americas — Alpine instructed Colapinto to hold position to manage fuel and account for the possibility of being lapped by the race leaders.
The Argentinian responded in disbelief over team radio, saying: “Hold what? Hold positions? Wait, he’s slow.”
Colapinto, who had fresher tyres than Gasly and was under pressure from Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, ignored the order, passing his teammate into Turn 1 on the penultimate lap.
The move secured 17th place for Colapinto, while Gasly dropped behind Bortoleto to finish last.
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After the race, Colapinto defended his actions.
“We had quite a bit more pace than Pierre in the last stint and had Bortoleto really close behind, attacking very hard,” he said.
“He was much quicker than us and it was holding me up with how slow Pierre was.
“I think it was the best for the situation to have me in front.”
Alpine, however, did not share Colapinto’s assessment, with managing director Steve Nielsen saying the team was disappointed in his decision making.
“We gave the instruction for the drivers to maintain position as we were managing fuel with both cars and the added variable of the number of laps remaining with the leaders in close proximity,” he said.
“As a team, any instruction made by the pit wall is final and today we are disappointed that this didn’t happen, so it’s something we will review and deal with internally.”
Gasly avoided publicly criticising his teammate but acknowledged Alpine’s difficult weekend.
“I’m not happy about this race,” he said.
“I’m disappointed by the whole performance and starting on the soft.”
Alpine head into the Mexico City Grand Prix last in the constructors’ championship, having not scored points since the Belgian Grand Prix, while Colapinto continues to fight for his seat alongside Gasly in 2026.
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