Following his thrilling and controversial victory in the British Grand Prix on Sunday, Lewis Hamilton has been the subject of racist insults on social media.
It should be recalled that, during last weekend’s main event, Hamilton collided with Max Verstappen which led to the Dutchman crashing out. Due to that incident, the Briton received a 10-minute penalty.
Apparently, social media users wanted to hide behind the controversy to spread hate messages. This caused an outcry among thousands of Formula 1 fans.
In a joint statement, Mercedes, F1 and the governing body FIA made it clear that they condemn the abuse in the “strongest possible terms”. They further stated that ” these people have no place in our sport”.
“Formula One, the FIA, the drivers and the teams are working to build a more diverse and inclusive sport, and such unacceptable instances of online abuse must be highlighted and eliminated,” they added.
On the other hand, they also stated that “those responsible should be held accountable for their actions.”
Although Verstappen made his annoyance with Hamilton public on Sunday, his Red Bull team showed their solidarity with the Stevenage-born driver on Monday.
“While we may be fierce rivals on-track, we are all
united against racism, we condemn racist abuse of any kind,” they said in a statement.
