Britain’s Oliver Bearman has led the charge against online abuse after Kimi Antonelli was threatened on social media after the Qatar Grand Prix.
Mercedes flagged more than 1,100 “serious or questionable comments” across Antonelli’s social media accounts, including death threats, after some fans were unhappy that title-chasing Lando Norris overtook the Mercedes driver in the final stages of Sunday’s race.
Max Verstappen’s engineer Giampiero Lambiase and Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko initially said Antonelli had let Norris pass, then apologized to Antonelli and Mercedes for their comments.
Red Bull issued a statement on Monday saying the comments were “patently inaccurate” and that it “deeply regrets” the abuse Antonelli suffered.
“I haven’t faced that level of criticism, but that’s part of being at a team like Haas and not Mercedes. There’s also the advantage of starting your career at a team like Haas. You’re a little bit less in the spotlight. You can make mistakes and there can be less criticism for them,” said Bearman, a Haas driver who, like Antonelli, is in the final stages of his rookie season.
“In general, there’s always the fact that the people on the other side of the screen are really awful, the scum of the earth. I don’t think they should do that to anyone.
“Those who have been involved in F1 for many years are used to it, and newcomers may have never experienced such criticism, but the criticism is completely ridiculous and should not be tolerated.”
Oliver Bearman slams online abusers ahead of Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
F1’s governing body, the FIA, launched a campaign called Unite Against Online Abuse in early 2023 and added its support for Antonelli, saying: “It remains absolutely vital that everyone involved in our sport can operate in a safe and respectful environment.”
Bearman continued: “I know the FIA is doing everything they can to stop it, but the problem is that sad people are making such criticisms.
“That’s a joke. We put our lives on the line to entertain people and give people who are passionate about this sport a good time.
“But there are also people like that who just hurt people. It’s not just the race, it’s their personal lives too. I just think people are terrible. Real people in the world are terrible.”
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Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli talks about support provided after receiving online abuse after Qatar Grand Prix, says it’s ‘sad to see’
Mercedes’ George Russell and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc said the abuse was “unacceptable”, while Racing Bulls’ Isaac Hajjar called them “stupid”.
“It all started with a mistake on the part of the Red Bull team. Of course they apologized, which is fine,” said Russell, president of the GPDA (Grand Prix Drivers Association).
“People make mistakes, especially when they don’t have the full facts. But I think there is no excuse for the thousands of people behind the keyboard and they need to take a long hard look at themselves in the mirror and think why that is acceptable, not just for F1, but for society as a whole. I’m having a hard time understanding that.”
George Russell says abuse towards Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli is ‘quite unacceptable’
Leclerc added: “These people don’t take any responsibility for their words or their disrespect towards drivers. So it’s not up to us to think about the consequences they have to endure, but this is very unfortunate because we’re all trying to do our best here.”
“We have been racing since we were children and dreamed of being in that position. And today we are doing everything we can to reach the limit. And sometimes mistakes happen. Even in that particular case, the hatred was completely in vain.”
Antonelli: Verstappen and Norris also sent messages from among the drivers
Antonelli, 19, is in his rookie season in F1 and is just two points behind Lewis Hamilton in the race for sixth place in the drivers’ championship.
The Italian revealed that Verstappen and Norris were among the drivers who sent him messages, and also revealed that Red Bull team principal Laurent Mequise and Lambert himself spoke to him ahead of this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
He said Verstappen called his online abusers “ignorant” and said some of the threats were “hard to see”.
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Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli talks about support provided after receiving online abuse after Qatar Grand Prix, says it’s ‘sad to see’
“There were a lot of insults, some even death threats. It was very difficult because at the end of the day, I was criticized for things I would never do. I would never do anything to give someone an advantage over another,” Antonelli added.
“I would never do anything that would damage Max or Lando or Oscar. I race for myself and to achieve the best result possible. It hurt to be criticized for that, but at the end of the day I got a lot of support from people and drivers I trust. It helped me forget what happened, so it was great.”
“At the end of the day, we’re athletes and we’re trying to do our best. We’re running for ourselves, our careers. This is a great sport and it’s unfortunate to see something like this happen, but we have to improve. It can happen to other athletes as well.”
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Friday, December 5th
7am: F2 practice
9:00am: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Practice 1 (Session starts at 9:30am)*
10:55am: F2 Qualifying*
11.40am: Team boss press conference*
12:45pm: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Practice 2 (Session starts at 1pm)*
2:15pm: F1 Show*
Saturday, December 6th
10:15am: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Practice 3 (Session starts at 11:30am)*
12:10pm: F2 Sprint*
1:15pm: Abu Dhabi GP qualifying build-up*
2pm: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Qualifying*
4pm: Ted’s Qualification Notes*
Sunday, December 7th
9:10am: F2 Feature Race
11am: Grand Prix Sunday: Abu Dhabi GP Build-up*
1pm: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix*
3pm: Checkered flag: Abu Dhabi GP reaction*
4pm: Ted’s Notes
*Also held at Sky Sports Main Event
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