Oliver Bearman didn’t bother sugar-coating it. In the days after Kimi Antonelli was hit with a wave of online abuse — including death threats — following the Qatar Grand Prix, the Haas rookie called the trolls “scum of the earth” and said enough is enough.
Antonelli’s flashpoint came on the final lap in Lusail. Running fourth, the Mercedes driver slid wide, and that was all the invitation Lando Norris needed. The McLaren slipped past for P4 and two extra points that could yet decide the title. Norris heads to Abu Dhabi with a 12-point cushion over Max Verstappen and 16 over Oscar Piastri, and, yes, those two points matter.
What followed got messy. On Red Bull’s radio, Gianpiero Lambiase wondered aloud if Antonelli had “pulled over” for Norris. Helmut Marko later labeled the move “so obvious” he believed the Italian “waved” Lando through. Toto Wolff swiftly fired back, dismissing that line as “brainless” — not least because Mercedes are in their own scrap for P2 in the Constructors’ standings. Red Bull then issued a clarification, stressing that any suggestion Antonelli had deliberately let Norris by was “clearly incorrect.”
By then, the damage was done. Mercedes say Antonelli’s accounts were hit with more than 1,100 “severe or suspect” comments. The 18-year-old stepped away from social media; the FIA condemned the abuse.
Bearman, speaking to reporters in Abu Dhabi, didn’t mince his words. He admitted there’s a strange kind of protection in starting at a team like Haas — you’re under less of a microscope than a Mercedes rookie — but he was clear: targeting a driver online is pathetic. People behind screens, he said, thrive on trying to hurt others. It shouldn’t be tolerated. Not in racing, not anywhere.
There’s also the reality that rookies feel it more. Veterans learn to compartmentalize the noise; first-years are experiencing it in real time while trying to hang onto a car that bites at 320 km/h. Bearman’s point landed because it’s obvious and still somehow needs saying: these are young athletes pushing to the edge to entertain us, not characters in a video game.
Franco Colapinto has ridden both sides of the wave — receiving and, at times, seeing his own fanbase cross lines aimed at others, including Yuki Tsunoda. His view leans pragmatic. You can’t fully control the internet; the best defense is often to look away. But he also nudged the paddock to take responsibility. Emotions run hot after the flag, and pointed words in the heat of the moment can become kindling for the pile-on. Drivers cop penalties for swearing in interviews, he noted, while people spreading wild narratives face no consequence. Maybe that’s something the sport needs to revisit.
That brings us back to the original spark. The insinuation that Antonelli deliberately moved over wasn’t just unfair, it was illogical in the context of Mercedes’ fight for every last point. He made a mistake on old tyres under pressure from a title contender who was flying. It happens. It’s also why this sport keeps us up on Sunday nights.
There’s a bigger picture here. F1’s online reach has exploded, and with it the volume — and velocity — of backlash. Teams and the FIA can clamp down, and they should. But it also requires a collective cooling of the temperature when the mics are live. What you toss into the ether after a race doesn’t disappear; it hardens into ammunition for the worst corners of social media.
Antonelli, for his part, will be judged on what he does in the car. He’s a rookie in a high-pressure seat, handling a spotlight few his age have ever felt. The sport would do well to let him grow without the static — and save the outrage for what happens between the white lines.
As for the championship, Norris’ opportunism in Qatar might carry real weight. Two points isn’t much on paper, but it’s everything when the math gets tight under the Yas Marina floodlights. Abu Dhabi decides it. Let’s keep the fight on track.
