Mercedes Formula 1 driver Kimi Antonelli has decided to deactivate his social media accounts due to a flood of death threats and more than 1,100 hateful messages he received following the Qatar Grand Prix. The 19-year-old faced severe online harassment after a late race incident allowed Lando Norris to overtake him, resulting in Norris gaining valuable points that could impact the championship standings. Currently, Norris leads Max Verstappen by 12 points, and if Norris secures third place in the upcoming Abu Dhabi finale, he will be crowned world champion regardless of Verstappen’s performance.
After the race, Antonelli changed his Instagram profile picture to a black image, hinting at the online abuse he was enduring. Reports indicate that over 1,100 offensive comments were directed at Antonelli on his personal social media accounts, with an additional 330 comments found on the Mercedes team’s pages. Some of these remarks included threats of violence towards the young driver.
The Mercedes team plans to report all the offensive comments to the FIA as part of the organization’s initiative against online abuse. This action comes following comments from Red Bull officials implying that Antonelli facilitated Norris’ overtake, with Verstappen’s race engineer expressing confusion over the incident during the race.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff dismissed the accusations, criticizing the insinuations made by Red Bull representatives. He clarified that Antonelli’s error was unintentional and emphasized the team’s focus on the championship standings. Red Bull later issued a statement expressing regret over the comments that led to the online abuse directed at Antonelli.
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