Mercedes Formula 1 driver Kimi Antonelli has decided to deactivate his social media accounts following an onslaught of death threats and more than 1,100 abusive messages after the Qatar Grand Prix. The 19-year-old faced severe harassment from online trolls due to a late race incident that allowed Lando Norris to overtake him.
This turn of events benefited Norris, who gained two crucial points in the championship race. With a 12-point lead over Max Verstappen, the current race winner in Qatar, Norris only needs to secure third place in the upcoming Abu Dhabi finale to clinch the world championship title, regardless of Verstappen’s performance.
After the race, observers noticed that Antonelli had changed his Instagram profile picture to an all-black image, sparking speculation about online abuse targeting the young driver, a situation confirmed by Mirror Sport. Over 1,100 offensive comments were detected on Antonelli’s personal social media accounts, with an additional 330 found on the Mercedes team’s pages, some containing threats towards the driver.
The Mercedes team plans to report all the offensive comments to the FIA as part of the United Against Online Abuse initiative. This action follows remarks from Red Bull executives suggesting Antonelli may have aided Norris by not resisting his pass, which was further compounded by Verstappen’s race engineer expressing confusion over Antonelli’s actions during the race.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff swiftly dismissed these insinuations and criticized Red Bull’s claims, emphasizing the team’s focus on securing points in the constructors’ championship and Antonelli’s competitive standing in the race. Red Bull later issued a statement regretting their earlier comments that led to online abuse directed at Antonelli.
In other news, Sky has enhanced its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to include popular streaming services like HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+, and Hayu, along with access to 135 channels and comprehensive coverage of Formula 1. Sky’s coverage includes broadcasting all practice sessions, qualifying rounds, and races throughout the season, in addition to exclusive content featuring the Premier League, EFL, darts, and golf.