© Williams Racing
Lewis Hamilton says Nicholas Latifi has his “full support” after receiving death threats over his crash at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Nicholas Latifi’s crash in the final stages of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has started a chain of events that ended with race director Michael Masi breaking the Safety Car rules and protocols, which allowed Max Verstappen to easily win the race and the 2021 championship.
There is absolutely no doubt that this situation robbed Lewis Hamilton of his eighth title, which he would almost certainly win had the rules been followed.
A few days after the event Latifi released a statement saying he has been receiving death threats from people who blamed him for the outcome of the race.
Latifi has since reveals he has received messages of support from Lewis and Mercedes even before he released his statement. At Mercedes’ 2022 car launch Hamilton gave his comments on the situation.
“You could see there is so much passion within this sport,” Hamilton said.
“That’s what really makes this sport so great, there is so much passion. But we’ve got to channel that in the positive way, not a negative.
“I don’t think there’s been a huge change or shift, or enough work has been done from these social platforms. We still have to apply pressure for them to make changes.
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“They’re able to change these things and make changes, but they don’t seem to do it quick enough. I think we need to continue to apply pressure.
“Mental health is a real thing. Through these social platforms, people are experiencing abuse and no one deserves that. It should never be tolerated.
“I was in touch with Nicholas. He has my full support and I know how difficult it can be in those situations.
“I think it’s important for him to know that he has support from people around him,” Lewis concluded.
George Russell also expressed support for his former team-mate.
“I felt really, really bad for Nicholas,” Russell said.
“He’s such an amazing guy. He’s put so much hard work and effort, and he’s progressed a huge amount.
“Mistakes happen. I know first-hand how difficult that specific Williams car was to drive.
“He didn’t deserve at all to get what he received, so definitely more needs to be done,” the Briton concluded.
