Colapinto says crew abuse helped prompt video against online hate

Franco Colapinto says hateful messages aimed at his mechanics and engineers helped prompt his video urging fans to stop online abuse. Speaking in Austin, he said drivers discuss the issue constantly and that he had probably been talking about it over the previous ten races. He felt limits had been crossed and described the video as probably the last step he could take.

Colapinto said team members who help him perform and work with him every day had received many hateful messages. “That simply hurts me,” he said. He added that online abuse does not affect him deeply because he does not look at it much or give it much weight, though some people, he said, are affected by it.

Colapinto also pointed to abuse directed at Chris Lulham, Max Verstappen’s GT teammate. Lulham had spun a competitor in Portugal. Colapinto said Verstappen had also made a statement on the issue and that he believed his own video had helped. He described online hate as a problem beyond sport, including for artists and actors, and urged people to address it.