‘Crossed the line’: Star reveals disgusting aftermath of ugly F1 finale

An F1 star at the centre of the controversial season finale in Abu Dhabi has revealed a shocking response to how the last race ended.

There was a dramatic end to this F1 season.

F1 driver Nicholas Latifi has revealed he has received “a lot of hate and abuse” online following his role in deciding the F1 drivers’ championship in Abu Dhabi.

In a race that looked to have sewn up a record eighth championship for Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, Williams driver Latifi crashed into a wall, bringing a safety car onto the track with five laps to go.

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It led to plenty of questions around how the race would be allowed to finish, with Hamilton and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen racing in first and second respectively, but with a number of lapped drivers between them.

Initially, it appeared the lapped drivers would not be allowed to pass the safety car and would remain in front of Verstappen should the racing resume, however that wasn’t the case. The lapped drivers were allowed to do so, which saw Verstappen move right onto the back wheel of Hamilton and, when the race resumed with one lap to go, put his fresher tyres to use to pass his British counterpart and claim his first world title.

Verstappen and Hamilton went into the final event of the season tied on the leaderboard, and Latifi’s crash ultimately opened the door for Verstappen to close a gap on the track and pip Hamilton late.

It saw Latifi draw both support and ire from fans around the world and, in a statement on his website, he revealed he has even received death threats.

“I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to go about handling this. Do I ignore it and carry on? Or do I address it and tackle the bigger issue that is sadly a reality when you use social media?” he wrote

“This isn’t some scripted statement, but rather me speaking my mind in the hope that this maybe sparks another conversation about online bullying and the drastic consequences it can have on people. Using social media as a channel to attack somebody with messages of hate, abuse and threats of violence is shocking – and something I am calling out.”

Nicholas Latifi was a target for abuse after the race. (Photo by Antonin Vincent / POOL / AFP)

As something of a reflection of the world today, the 26-year-old Canadian said he knew exactly how things were going to play out for him on social media after he was forced out of the race, and said he felt it would be best if he deleted certain apps from his phone for at least the days immediately after the race.

“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. I’m no stranger to being talked about negatively online, I think every sports person who competes on the world stage knows they’re under extreme scrutiny and this comes with the territory sometimes,” he Latifi said.

“But 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 and bring out the worst in people who are so-called ‘fans’ of the sport. What shocked me was the extreme tone of the hate, abuse, and even the death threats I received.

“People will have their opinions, and that’s fine. Having a thick skin is a huge part of being an athlete, especially when you are constantly in a position to be scrutinised. But many of the comments I received last week crossed the line into something far more extreme.

“It concerns me how somebody else might react if this same level of abuse was ever directed at them. No one should let the activities of a vocal minority dictate who they are.”

It brought a sour end to the Canadian’s second season on the grid, in which he earned seven points for the struggling Williams team.

He will again drive for the team in 2022, however, he will have a new teammate, with former Red Bull driver Alex Albon replacing George Russell. Russell will drive for Mercedes next season alongside Hamilton.

This story first appeared on the NZ Herald and was reproduced with permission