Supercars drivers reveal horror social media abuse and call for greater protections

Supercars drivers have united in a call for greater protection from online trolls, revealing their concerns over the depth of the problem — which includes abuse directed at their families.

Two years ago, Walkinshaw Andretti star Chaz Mostert mobilised a Supercars call to arms in a bid to snuff out online abuse of drivers.

The NoSocialHate campaign got tongues wagging about the barrage of abuse drivers receive online and over the fence for simply doing their jobs.

Supercars sat down with Mostert and his team to listen to the driver’s concerns and moved to action a number of countermeasures.

At the Adelaide 500 last November, the sport trialled an online tool to delete hateful comments on its social media channels and has committed to using it moving forward.

Supercars also updated its ticketing terms and conditions to allow removal of fans for abuse.

But on the eve of the 2023 season, drivers say the problem has not improved and some feel there is not enough support from inside the industry.

“I don’t think there’s really anything done for it. You’re left up to your own devices in many ways,” a veteran driver told News Corp Australia.

“I’m quite passionate about it now and I think a lot more could be done. For me I’m able to block it out better now and not let it define me, (but) I think for the younger generations coming through who are much more involved on the social side of things, it can have a greater impact.”

Trust me boys, I know what I’m doing… 📸#Mozzie25#NoSocialHatepic.twitter.com/doDTCa8Oqi

— Chaz Mostert (@chazmozzie) March 4, 2023

Chaz Mostert has previously issued a call to arms to stop online abuse of drivers.

One driver felt Supercars had stoked the flames of social hate by widely sharing an on-track incident he was involved in.

“Sometimes Supercars puts stuff out there that they shouldn’t — there’s not much protection, you know? I think we get fed to the wolves and not protected in some ways,” he said.

“(An incident I was involved in, Supercars) drummed it up. If we (drivers) do that about the sport we’re in trouble, but they can feed you to the wolves as a driver and create this media spin which is average, I think.

“And then that creates social media drama, because everyone likes controversy. Which is fine, but they (Supercars) need to sit on the fence with it, not promote it.”

“It doesn’t sit well with me.”@chazmozzie speaks to Abbey and Mark about his #nosocialhate campaign. Great initiative 🙏 pic.twitter.com/GCeZ41ck31

— 7Sport (@7Sport) March 13, 2021

Drivers at the season launch for 2023.

Drivers are acutely aware that fans make the sport and social media plays a massive role in cultivating the connection between athlete and spectator.

But one driver revealed he has had to completely remove himself from social media, severing that fan connection, due to the tidal wave of abuse that would often roll in.

“I have someone else who handles all my socials now on race weeks so I don’t have to look at my phone – to be honest, for that exact reason,” he said.

“Unfortunately that’s what they (online trolls) have driven – it’s driven us to be less engaged.”

Another now carries with him a second phone purely for social media, so that he can switch off whenever the outside noise becomes too great.

Broc Feeney enjoys a win in Adelaide in December.

Such measures have become common practice on the grid.

Drivers recounted varying degrees of social media abuse to News Corp Australia during a recent anonymous survey.

The views ranged from overwhelmingly positive experiences with fans, to being made to feel like nothing more than a plaything for someone else’s entertainment.

“The sad thing is they don’t look at you as humans. They treat you like a product,” one driver said.

“They say things they would never say to your face, so you always have to take it with a grain of salt.”

“I’ve even had some comments about my wife or kids – it’s pretty f----d, to be honest,” another revealed.

“But in Supercars they don’t do anything. We just need to have a thick skin.

“It’s why I keep my kids separate. Even when taking photos at tracks and stuff, I don’t take photos of the kids. I can cop (the abuse) but why should they?”

Shane van Gisbergen celebrates another championship win.

Drivers agree that social media’s role in promoting the sport makes the juggling act of positive and negative exposure a difficult one to nail down.

“I think Supercars could do a better job of (protecting drivers) than they are doing now, (but) it’s a fine line when it comes to masking people, because the fans are what makes our sport,” one driver said.

“As an athlete you are in the limelight and that is all part of it. Some people can be dicks, but they wish they were in your spot at the end of the day so I don’t let it worry me.”

Drivers are divided over whether Supercars could or should do more for drivers to combat social media abuse and mental health within the sport.

“It’s kind of on your own back to sort this. I don’t even know who you would go to if you were to talk to someone in Supercars for that,” one driver said.

Another told News Corp: “I think most of us have sports psychologists that you work with which can overlap with your general wellbeing, but our sport is very different in comparison to say, AFL. We don’t have as much structured support.”

“If you’re having a bad day there’s no one in the sport asking you if you’re having a bad day,” revealed one driver.

“There’s some push for it (to change) but really, there’s no action to fix it. Whether there should or shouldn’t be, I don’t know.”

Another felt social media abuse simply came with the territory: “It’s not Supercars’ job to support us. We’re professional sports people and within the current climate of social media, you can’t stop it.”

Structured support was a topic that multiple drivers highlighted, with a renewed push for a drivers’ association to advocate on key issues within the sport.

“Our sport is pretty backwards,” said one driver.

“Other sports have player associations and stuff like that. We’ve tried to have driver associations in the past but it always gets kiboshed by the owners, so we don’t really have a representative nature in the sport.

“If we had an association absolutely (mental health) is one thing we could target and help people with.

“Especially when you leave the sport. No one really knows what happens to people after (retirement) and that’s when, I think, drivers suffer the most problems in their life.”

Early career and post-retirement were two periods that drivers felt could contribute to mental health struggles.

One veteran driver revealed he had to completely change his approach to the industry, lest he quickly burn out.

“Mental health in sport is an issue because you have relatively short careers,” he said.

“The moment you’re not performing there will be someone there to take your seat, so the pressure is really intense.

“I had some really difficult times early in my career. I had to deal with that, and I found ways to feel productive between events and do other things to help my mental wellbeing – I would encourage other drivers to do the same.”

“You have all this experience driving a car and all of a sudden you’re not needed – it’s a bizarre feeling,” another revealed of his retirement fears.

“It’s going to happen to all of us and at the moment, there’s no steps out of the sport.

“Being a racing driver has been my identity since I was young. When that stops, I’ll lose that identity. I’ll have to find myself again. I think that’s quite a difficult thing and no one really talks about it, because no one wants to think about it, but it’s something we should be talking about.”

Originally published as Supercars drivers reveal horror social media abuse and call for greater protections