Charles Leclerc calls for urgent change after F1 death threats

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Belgium, 2025 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Charles Leclerc calls for urgent change after F1 death threats

An F1 star received abuse online in 2025

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Thursday 1 January 2026 20:28

Charles Leclerc has called for urgent action after the online abuse fellow F1 star Kimi Antonelli was subjected to in the wake of the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix.

The Italian youngster was subjected to vile death threats online after the Qatar GP, where he made a mistake which let Lando Norris through for fourth place.

Norris picked up two crucial points in the title fight, and the reaction of some Red Bull figures suggested Antonelli had moved aside on purpose.

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Max Verstappen's race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase said over team radio that Antonelli 'pulled over', and former Red Bull chief Helmut Marko also claimed the move from the Mercedes star was intentional.

Red Bull later apologised for these comments and debunked theories it was on purpose, but by then the damage had been done by abusers online.

Following the Qatar GP weekend, Mercedes found over 1100 'severe or suspect comments' across Antonelli's social media accounts, which included death threats.

Leclerc calls for action

Speaking to the media about the abuse online, Ferrari star Charles Leclerc offered his support for Antonelli and urged for more to be done to protect drivers.

"It's unacceptable, and obviously, those people face no consequence for their words and for their disrespect towards drivers," he said.

"It's not up to us to think about the consequences that they should endure, but it's a big shame because we’re all here trying to do our absolute best.

"We've been racing since we were kids, dreaming of being in that position, and today we're doing absolutely everything to be at the limit. Sometimes mistakes happen. In that particular case, also, the hate was for absolutely nothing.

"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 sometimes look 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.

"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."

F1 Ferrari Charles Leclerc Kimi Antonelli