Photo: Nicholas Latifi on Twitter, Williams F1 Team
Williams F1 racing driver Nicholas Latifi has made a statement regarding the events of the past ten days. The 26-year-old Canadian F1 driver has received thousands of messages across his social media accounts, and many of them have not been supportive. The driver even got death threats.
As those of you who watched the last race of the 2021 F1 season remember, Nicholas Latifi crashed his F1 car on lap 52, with just six to go to the finish line. Latifi was competing for a position with Mick Schumacher before his crash, but that did not matter to the people who sent hate mail on social media.
His crash led to the deployment of the Safety Car, a move that reduced the gap between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, with the latter overtaking to take the Drivers' World Championship title, in the very last lap.
The Canadian driver explained that he will always give it his all, even when he is competing for last place. Nick Latifi went on to say that he is “the same as every other driver on the grid in that regard.”
The driver mentioned that “he is fine if some people do not agree or understand” that part of his statement, and underlined the fact that “everyone can have an opinion.”
Latifi also explained that he went on to apologize to the group of people who he needed to apologize for his DNF, his team, which got his apologies as soon as he got back to the pits.
The Canadian driver understands that everything that happened after that is beyond his control and that athletes must have “thick skin” because they are constantly in a position to be scrutinized.
However, the 26-year-old driver is concerned about how someone else might react if they received the same level of abuse. Latifi underlines the fact that no one should let the activities of a vocal minority dictate who they are.
The Canadian driver calls out the “so-called fans” of the sport, which shocked him with the “extreme tone of hate, abuse, and even the death threats” they threw at him on social media. Nick Latifi was wise enough to temporarily delete his social media apps from his phone right after the race, as he figured out something like this would happen.
Regardless of the race result, there is no justification for such behavior, and his team, along with others in the sport of Formula 1, stands by the Canadian driver.
The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team's verified page posted a comment on Latifi's Facebook page, where they expressed their support for the driver in the fight against online hate and abuse.
His crash led to the deployment of the Safety Car, a move that reduced the gap between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, with the latter overtaking to take the Drivers' World Championship title, in the very last lap.
The Canadian driver explained that he will always give it his all, even when he is competing for last place. Nick Latifi went on to say that he is “the same as every other driver on the grid in that regard.”
The driver mentioned that “he is fine if some people do not agree or understand” that part of his statement, and underlined the fact that “everyone can have an opinion.”
Latifi also explained that he went on to apologize to the group of people who he needed to apologize for his DNF, his team, which got his apologies as soon as he got back to the pits.
The Canadian driver understands that everything that happened after that is beyond his control and that athletes must have “thick skin” because they are constantly in a position to be scrutinized.
However, the 26-year-old driver is concerned about how someone else might react if they received the same level of abuse. Latifi underlines the fact that no one should let the activities of a vocal minority dictate who they are.
The Canadian driver calls out the “so-called fans” of the sport, which shocked him with the “extreme tone of hate, abuse, and even the death threats” they threw at him on social media. Nick Latifi was wise enough to temporarily delete his social media apps from his phone right after the race, as he figured out something like this would happen.
Regardless of the race result, there is no justification for such behavior, and his team, along with others in the sport of Formula 1, stands by the Canadian driver.
The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team's verified page posted a comment on Latifi's Facebook page, where they expressed their support for the driver in the fight against online hate and abuse.
Google News