Nicholas Latifi reveals fears of 'one-in-a-million extreme' attack

Nicholas Latifi

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Latifi reveals fears of 'one-in-a-million extreme' attack

Latifi received death threats after his crash at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Ewan Gale

Wednesday 16 February 2022 10:22

Nicholas Latifi has revealed he hired a security detail in the aftermath of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last year to protect against a "one-in-a-million" fan with "extreme views".

The Canadian was subjected to online abuse and death threats following his crash at the Yas Marina Circuit which triggered what would turn out to be the controversial safety car period that forced the FIA into conducting an enquiry.

So-called 'fans' that were angry with the result after seeing Lewis Hamilton miss out on a record-breaking eighth F1 championship to Max Verstappen sent threats to Latifi, which he revealed before Christmas prior to taking a social media hiatus.

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Asked during a media call, including GPFans, if he had thought about hiring security in order to remain safe over the winter, Latifi replied: "Yeah, I mean to be honest it was something we considered.

"It sounds silly to some people but at the end of the day, you don't know how serious people are.

"All it could take is one drunk fan at the airport or someone who is having a bad day, intoxicated or under the influence of something and has these extreme opinions, then all it takes is that one-in-a-million person.

"Some days I was back in London after the race and I did have some security with me when I was doing certain things.

"I went to Winter Wonderland with my girlfriend because we didn't manage to fit that in before the last block of races and I had some security detail with me on that.

"It sounds silly but we definitely did take the threats seriously because you really don't know what can happen.

"It is an unfortunate part of the world we live in."