F1 drivers slam Kimi Antonelli abuse ahead of Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
4th December 2025Formula 1 drivers have supported Kimi Antonelli against the online abuse the young Italian received after the Qatar Grand Prix, ahead of the Abu Dhabi season finale.
Feature image credit: Mercedes F1 // Jiri Krenek
Following the Qatar Grand Prix, it was reported that Antonelli, 19 years old, was subject to horrid online abuse after it was reported that the Italian had received over 1,000 messages, including death threats.
A late mistake from Antonelli had allowed McLaren’s championship contender, Lando Norris, to pass the Italian to secure a fourth-place finish when he was on course to finish behind the Mercedes driver.
In turn, the mistake allowed Norris to bridge the points gap to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to 12 points, rather than 10 points.
Ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the online abuse was slammed by the F1 drivers, including his teammate George Russell, with many agreeing the behaviour was unacceptable.
In the press conference, Russell said:
“Yeah, I think it’s pretty unacceptable what happened and what was written and the abuse online. Obviously, it all started with a mistake from the Red Bull guys, and of course, they apologised, and that’s okay.
“People make a mistake, especially when you don’t have the full facts. But I think those thousands of people behind their keyboards have no excuse and really need to take a hard look at themselves in the mirror and think why that is acceptable – not just for F1, but just society altogether.
“I just struggle to comprehend it, really. So that’s all I can say.”
This was also echoed by Racing Bull’s Isack Hadjar, who will partner Max Verstappen at Red Bull next season, after the Frenchman himself had a poor start to the season, with a crash in Melbourne, before the race got underway.
The Racing Bulls driver claims it is ‘very unfair’ when they make a mistake, they are accused of making it on purpose. He claimed those sending abuse were ‘just idiots.’ He said:
“I haven’t spoken to Kimi, but it’s just unfair, especially when you’re giving your absolute maximum during your race to bring it home – I think it was fourth.
“You make a mistake, and then there are all these things said about you online. I think it’s just very unfair because you give your absolute maximum, and then it seems like you did this mistake on purpose, which I think is very not nice.
“And yeah, people behind their keyboards, like George said, are just idiots. They all know nothing about racing – never drove ever in their life – so that’s the only reason why they comment.”
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, agreed with both drivers, stating ‘it’s unacceptable’ and hopes the issue will be tackled in the future.
“Yeah, I don’t have much more to add apart from that. It’s unacceptable. And obviously, those people face no consequence for their words and for their disrespect towards drivers,” commented Leclerc. “So yeah, it’s not up to us to think about the consequences that they should endure, but it’s a big shame because, as they said, we’re all here trying to do our absolute best.
“We’ve done racing since we were kids, dreaming of being in that position, and today we’re doing absolutely everything in order to be at the limit. And sometimes mistakes happen. In that particular case, also, the hate was for absolutely nothing. So yeah, I mean, I didn’t speak with Kimi.
“The only thing that you can do in those kinds of moments is to ignore everything that is happening, but that’s obviously very hard – especially when you are… I remember my first or second year in F1, you kind of look sometimes on social media at what’s being said around you, or at least that was the case for me, and that makes it even more difficult.
“So yeah, then I think with experience you kind of get used to it, but we shouldn’t really have to get used to this kind of behaviour, and I hope that one day it will be tackled properly.”
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
