“Best close your DMs now” was one journalist’s advice to Esteban Ocon in the post-race media ‘pen’ after a collision with Franco Colapinto in the Chinese Grand Prix. The Haas Formula 1 driver was duly on the receiving end of a torrent of online abuse in the days that followed.
While Ocon brushed off the abuse, which included death threats, as the work of “keyboard warriors”, it forms part of a wider pattern of online toxicity in the fan community. Last year, Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli briefly closed down his social media channels after receiving similar abuse when he was falsely accused of allowing Lando Norris to pass him in the Qatar Grand Prix.
“Obviously there’s been a lot going on,” said Ocon. “To be honest I didn’t pay too much attention to it, but I’ve seen what was going on online. The important thing for me was really to speak with Franco directly, to really tell him what I thought and that I was sorry about the incident, because it was my fault on that one.
“And we had a good chat, everything was okay between us of course and I’m glad that he had a good race nevertheless and he still managed to score points, which was good.”
Colapinto had run as high as second place in China after the leading group pitted during an early safety car period, and was still in contention for a top-10 finish when he stopped for new tyres on lap 32 of the race. As Colapinto left the pits, Ocon seized the moment and launched an opportunist dive up the inside into Turn 1, pitching both cars into a spin.
Although Colapinto recovered to 10th, he could have finished three places higher without the collision. Ocon was given a 10-second penalty by the stewards, and took full responsibility for the incident, but faced the wrath of the online community nevertheless – despite Colapinto’s management issuing a plea to fans to be “positive and respectful”.
Esteban Ocon, Haas F1 Team, Franco Colapinto, Alpine
Photo by: James Sutton / Formula 1 / Formula Motorsport Ltd via Getty Images
Ocon revealed he had received a letter of support from FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who has been a prominent campaigner for measures to counteract online hate speech. In 2023 Ben Sulayem founded the United Against Online Abuse campaign in response to a steward being targeted by trolls after the previous year’s US Grand Prix.
“The FIA, the president sent me a letter afterwards, so it’s been a talking point,” said Ocon. “For sure any kind of abuse online that we saw should not be tolerated and it should have big consequences. It should not have any place in sport or in our sport in general.
“But you know, that’s keyboard warriors, that’s how they are. I think in the future it’s going to become more of a thing and there probably will be more consequences for these people.”
In the UK this week, a 60-year-old man was given a suspended prison sentence, a requirement to engage in a 10‑day rehabilitation programme, and a four-year ban from attending football matches after pleading guilty to posting offensive messages about the England international Jess Carter during last summer’s European Championship.
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