The Williams driver Nicholas Latifi has revealed he has received death threats in the wake of Formula One's controversial season finale. The Canadian has been subjected to abuse after his crash at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix sparked a chaotic end to the title race.
The 26-year-old crashed into a wall with five laps left, bringing out the safety car, while Lewis Hamilton was leading.
It allowed Max Verstappen to pit for fresher tyres and ultimately overtake Hamilton to win the drivers' championship after FIA race director Michael Masi's call to allow the five lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to unlap themselves.
Latifi wrote on his website yesterday: "Going back to the race weekend, as soon as the checkered flag dropped, I knew how things were likely to play out on social media. The fact that I felt it would be best if I deleted Instagram and Twitter on my phone for a few days says all we need to know about how cruel the online world can be.
“The ensuing hate, abuse, and threats on social media were not really a surprise to me as it’s just the stark reality of the world we live in right now.
“As we’ve seen time and time again, across all different sports, it only takes one incident at the wrong time to have things completely blown out of proportion.
“What shocked me was the extreme tone of the hate, abuse, and even the death threats I received.”
