Antonelli social media abuse sparks call for FIA punishment review

F1 star Franco Colapinto has hinted that more needs to be done by the FIA to protect drivers from online abuse.

At the Qatar Grand Prix, Red Bull star Gianpiero Lambiase suggested that Kimi Antonelli had let Lando Norris through for fourth position, which would have hampered Max Verstappen's championship battle.

While the onboard footage showed this was absolutely not the case with Antonelli almost completely losing control of his car, former Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko doubled down on the comments against Antonelli, saying: "It was twice where he more or less waved Lando by. It was so obvious. Antonelli now helps our main competitor, in Austria he was crashing [Verstappen] in the rear."

As a result, 19-year-old Antonelli then suffered vile social media abuse from fans online, and turned his profile picture black in response. Red Bull issued a swift apology, while Lambiase also personally apologised to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and Antonelli.

F1 star Franco Colapinto, however, believed that was not enough, stating that the FIA should have punished Red Bull for their comments about Antonelli, in the same way that F1 stars are punished for swearing in press conferences.

"This creates a much bigger problem, and they face no consequences. They simply issue a statement, and everything goes back to normal. I don't know, it all seems unfair to me. Perhaps it should change, perhaps not; it's not up to me to decide, so I won't get too involved, but it's probably something that deserves to be revisited."

FIA punishments for driver swearing

As Colapinto mentioned, the FIA clamp down hard on drivers who use 'unnecessary' bad language.

In 2024, Verstappen was handed a community service-style punishment for swearing in a press conference, while Ferrari star Charles Leclerc also received a fine for swearing in a press conference at the end of the 2024 season.

World Rally Championship (WRC) driver Adrien Fourmaux was also fined €10,000 and hit with a suspended €20,000 fine for using 'inappropriate language' during a TV interview earlier in 2025, prompting a row between WRC drivers, co-drivers and the FIA.

The FIA have relaxed that rule slightly, however, and in 2025 it was announced that the maximum penalty for a breach of the swearing regulations would be halved from €10,000 to €5000, while exceptions would be made for language used 'on-track' as opposed to in a 'controlled environment' such as a press conference.

It remains to be seen whether they bring in a rule surrounding drivers and team members who might say something which inadvertently leads to another driver or team member receiving online hate from fans, but the FIA do have their United Against Online Abuse project which seeks to point out and condemn online hate.

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