Mercedes Formula 1 driver, Kimi Antonelli, has taken down his social media profiles after receiving numerous death threats and over 1,100 abusive messages following the Qatar Grand Prix. The 19-year-old faced intense online harassment from trolls due to an on-track incident during Sunday’s race that allowed Lando Norris to overtake him.
As a consequence, Norris gained two crucial points that could impact the championship race. With a 12-point lead over Max Verstappen, who won the Qatar race, Norris only needs to secure third place in the upcoming Abu Dhabi finale to clinch the world championship, irrespective of Verstappen’s performance.
Shortly after the race, it became apparent that Antonelli had changed his Instagram profile picture to all black, hinting at potential online abuse. Reports indicate that more than 1,100 hurtful comments were directed at Antonelli on his personal accounts, with around 330 additional derogatory remarks found on the Mercedes team’s social media pages, some even containing threats towards the young driver.
The team is set to report all the offensive comments to the FIA, which leads the United Against Online Abuse initiative. This action follows comments from Red Bull executives implying that Antonelli may have assisted Norris, who races for McLaren, a team using Mercedes engines.
During the race, Verstappen’s race engineer expressed confusion over Antonelli’s actions, suggesting that he deliberately allowed Norris to pass. However, Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff, vehemently refuted these claims, labeling them as baseless and nonsensical. He clarified the situation with the race engineer and emphasized that there was no intent to interfere in the championship battle.
Red Bull later issued a statement expressing regret over the remarks that triggered the online abuse towards Antonelli, acknowledging that the incident was a result of Antonelli momentarily losing control of his car.
In other news, Sky has enhanced its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+, and Hayu, along with 135 channels and comprehensive coverage of Formula 1. Sky offers live broadcasts of every practice, qualifying session, and race throughout the season, in addition to exclusive coverage of various sports events.
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