However, race winner George Russell and Max Verstappen, who took second, both said a ban would be too severe.
Mercedes’ Russell said: “That’s too harsh. Safety car restarts, cold tyres, a very small mistake can have big consequences. And from what I saw today, that’s what it looked like. It was a small error that had a big consequence. Race bans should come from drivers intentionally doing something very dangerous and very reckless.”
Red Bull’s Verstappen added: “As long as the driver that caused it is aware of what he did, right, and apologised… It’s not nice. Not nice for anyone involved, right? But like George said, a race ban probably is a bit much.”
Colapinto was given a 10-second penalty in the race, but as he was already retired this has been converted into a five-place grid drop at the next race, the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, next weekend.
Both Alpine drivers were in with a chance of scoring points in the race, and were running seventh and 10th before the incident.
Most galling for the team was that Racing Bulls driver Arvid Lindblad finished seventh and that has extended their gap over Alpine in their fight for fifth place in the constructors’ championship to 15 points.
Gasly said he was “crushed” by the incident.
“We’re all very disappointed with the outcome after such a strong weekend, strong race,” the Frenchman said. “It’s still difficult to process what just happened.”
A McLaren spokesperson said it was too early to say whether the incident would mean Norris would not be able to use the upgraded parts the team debuted in Baku at the race in Malaysia.
