F1 drivers condemn online abuse aimed at Antonelli after Qatar incident

Antonelli found himself in the unfortunate spotlight of online trolls after a late incident involving Lando Norris at the Lusail race. The Mercedes driver was judged by many fans to have allowed the McLaren driver an easy overtake, which attracted a barrage of online criticism.

However, ahead of the start of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, several drivers, including teammate Russell, slammed the abuse aimed at the Italian.

Speaking to the media, Russell labelled the online harassment as unacceptable and explained how he struggles to comprehend why people go online to insult others who are simply trying to do their job.

“It's pretty unacceptable what happened and what was written, the abuse online. Obviously, it all started with a mistake from the Red Bull guys, and they apologised, and that's okay. People make mistakes, especially when you don't have the full facts,” Russell said.

“Those thousands of people behind their keyboards have no excuse and really need to take a hard look at themselves in the mirror and think why that is acceptable—not just for F1, but for society altogether. I just struggle to comprehend it, really. So that's all I can say,” the British driver concluded.

Hadjar, who was alongside Russell, also leapt in defence of his fellow rookie. The Red Bull driver highlighted how mistakes can happen, particularly to young drivers, before labelling the online trolls as idiots.

“I haven't spoken to Kimi, but it's just unfair, especially when you're giving your absolute maximum during your race to bring it home – I think it was fourth. You make a mistake, and then there are all these things said about you online. It's just very unfair because you give your absolute maximum, and then it seems like you made this mistake on purpose, which is really not nice,” he stated.

“People behind their keyboards, like George said, are just idiots. They know nothing about racing – never driven in their life – so that's the only reason why they comment,” Hadjar concluded.

Scuderia Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc also echoed the views of both drivers, stating how unacceptable the incident involving Antonelli was.

Leclerc further called for the need for consequences to deter future actions.

“I don't have much more to add apart from that. It's unacceptable, obviously. Those people face no consequences for their words and for their disrespect towards drivers. It's not up to us to think about the consequences they should endure, but it's a big shame because, as they said, we’re all here trying to do our absolute best,” he said.

“We've been racing since we were kids, dreaming of being in that position, and today we're doing absolutely everything in order to be at the limit. Sometimes mistakes happen. In that particular case, also, the hate was for absolutely nothing,” Leclerc added.

“With experience, you kind of get used to it, but we shouldn’t really have to get used to this kind of behaviour, and I hope that one day it will be tackled properly,” he concluded.

Antonelli himself revealed the support he received from Max Verstappen amid the online abuse he was subjected to.

The Mercedes driver also revealed how the Dutch champion described the online trolls in his assessment.

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