Mercedes F1 React as Nicholas Latifi Breaks His Silence After the Controversy in Abu Dhabi

Max Verstappen was staring at a massive defeat in Abu Dhabi with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton pulling off a masterclass up ahead. Christian Horner, on-air, too, acknowledged the Dutchman needing a miracle in a bid to secure his first-ever world championship title.

Well, the miracle arrived through Nicholas Latifi, who shunted his Williams hardly five laps away from the chequered flag. Consequently, the safety car was called in which brought the two title contenders closer again and re-ignited the fight for the championship.

A couple of controversial decisions later, Verstappen snatched the lead from Hamilton in the final lap of the race to clinch his first world championship title.

Consequently, FIA race director, Michael Masi, found himself in the firing line for his title-deciding rule, which makes sense to some extent. But, unfortunately, Latifi, too, ended up facing the wrath of the Hamilton fans from around the world on social media.

Nicholas Latifi stays away from social media

The Canadian has been awfully quiet for a couple of weeks now and turns out he has deliberately been staying away from social media to fend off the hate he had been receiving for causing the game-changing crash at Yas Marina.

“Hi everyone, I’ve purposely been staying away from social media to kind of let things settle down from the events of the last race.”

“A lot has been made of the situation that came about after my retirement in Abu Dhabi. I’ve received thousands of messages to my social media accounts – publicly and via DMs. Most have been supportive, but there’s been a lot of hate and abuse, too,” a part of his statement read.

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Mercedes offer their support to Latifi

Hours after Latifi released his heartfelt statement on social media, the official Twitter handle of Mercedes lent their support to the Williams driver.

“Stay strong Nicholas Latifi. We stand with you in the fight against online hate and abuse,” Mercedes commented. This reminds us a lot of the 2008 F1 season finale where, in place of Latifi, stood Timo Glock.

The German lost his position to Hamilton around the final corner, leading the latter to defeat Ferrari’s Felipe Massa. What followed was a wave of hate from the Tifosi and Brazilian fans; Glock recently admitted that he faced a lot of threatening calls and even letters.

Overall, it indeed is a shame that Latifi is having to endure such undeserving hate.

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