Lando Norris has called on Formula 1 and social media companies to do more to combat online abuse after the torrent of messages he received following last weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The comment sections of Norris’ social media channels were filled with thousands of negative and hateful messages after he said in a post-race interview that Alpine driver Franco Colapinto should be banned for causing the collision that took his McLaren out of the race.
Two days after the event in Baku, Norris publicly apologized for his post-race comments in a message shared with his 11.9 million followers on Instagram.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, Norris explained why he made the apology and called on the sport, social media channels and drivers to do more to prevent extreme comments such as death threats.
“I said what I wanted to Franco, and he’s the only one really that I need to share my opinion with and share my apology with,” Norris said.
“I don’t need to do it on social media, and I don’t feel like I need to use social media to do such a thing, but at the same time, there obviously was a lot of that noise and stuff in the background, and I thought it was only sensible to announce or show that I made that apology.
“But yeah, at the same time, I do still see social media at times, and I saw some bits, some not so good, some better, but sadly that’s what we deal with. I think a lot of sports deal with [it], some of it’s down to just passion, and that’s what you always have in sports.
“I think you see a lot more of it because social media is such an easy thing to share your opinions on. And to a certain extent, I completely respect it, but obviously to the extent of online abuse, death threats, all those things, those are things that I think are way too far beyond being a fan of a sport, or a driver, or a person, or an athlete, whatever it is.
“There’s a line, but it’s not new, it’s something that’s been around every sport for a long time, and I think just highlights more the fact that social media platforms, sports, need to do more, and maybe the people, the drivers, athletes, whoever, more to stop this kind of stuff from happening, because some people can deal with it much better than others.”
Norris said the reaction he received on social media would not stop him speaking his mind, even though he regretted his post-race comments in Baku.
“I should never have said the sort of stuff that I said, so I get why some people might have been more unhappy, let’s just say upset, which is understandable,” he added.
“Obviously there’s that line which was crossed at times, quite a lot, which is not just being upset at someone, this is much, much worse.
“But I think I’m always happy, in general, in speaking my mind, and saying if I like things, don’t like things, if I agree with things or not. I know I’m not able to please everyone, and you’re never going to have everyone on your side, so I think that’s normal enough, that’s life, and that’s what you have to come around to accept at the end of the day.”
Colapinto accepted Norris’ apology earlier this week, but on Thursday said he was surprised the McLaren driver chose to be so public with his criticism after the race.
“I think he was in the heat of the moment ... He knows what comments create because he suffered from it,” Colapinto said.
“He was probably the driver that was speaking the most about hate a couple of years ago, just a few seasons ago. So I was very surprised. But then, of course, he apologised.
“Unfortunately, he also got a lot of hate from it. But I also felt it’s a tricky situation with the outside world. And that’s why I think we need to be a bit safe inside about the things we say. And I understand it in the heat of the moment to say things like that.”
Colapinto’s fanbase has proved particularly vocal online and as recently as the Spanish Grand Prix last month turned on his Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly, with abuse that included messages sent to the Frenchman’s family and girlfriend.
Asked what his message to those posting the negative comments online would be, Colapinto said: “My message is always the same, that they sometimes don’t realise what you can create by writing in your keyword, and that we are humans, and it’s not easy for us when we get these kind of things.
“I think it always goes to Argentinians, but we miss that it doesn’t come only from Argentinians. It comes a lot from them, I fully agree. It doesn’t just come from them, and they are extremely passionate, and they support me a lot. And it’s bad, and they are bad many times, but it comes from all the world, and from many other fanbases.
“I don’t know if we are not seeing it, I get loads of it and no one ever talks about it. I mean, it’s fine because I don’t look at social media too much. I don’t go into it. But I know it affects a lot of people, and a lot of drivers, and a lot of families more than me.
“I hope that they improve. I’ve been asking for a long time. It’s tricky for us drivers to control it. I think we are the ones to not do them more. But we are also really striving to improve the situation by ourselves. Because we try -- for me, it’s been since last year that I’ve been talking about it. I am doing my best, but it’s tricky.”
In 2023 F1’s governing body, the FIA, set up the United Against Online Abuse (UAOA) commission, which as recently as this year’s British Grand Prix received the collective support of all 22 drivers in F1.
On its website, the UAOA says it “aims to design, develop and implement practical actions that can protect the integrity of sports across the world as safe and inclusive spaces for competitors, officials, journalists, and fans alike.”
