George Russell criticises 'keyboard warriors' after Kimi Antonelli death threats

George Russell has sharply criticised so-called 'keyboard warriors' following the vile online abuse suffered by team-mate Kimi Antonelli. 

In the closing stages of the Qatar GP, Antonelli was running in fourth place, chasing Carlos Sainz for third, with title-contender Lando Norris in fifth, but on the penultimate lap, the Italian rookie made a mistake to allow Norris through to rescue two points. 

Max Verstappen's race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, immediately told his driver over the radio that it looked like Antonelli had "pulled over" to let Norris through, with Red Bull's motorsport advisor, Helmut Marko, indicating that he felt the move was on purpose to aid Norris's title challenge.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff labelled Marko as "brainless" following the claim, with the team recording a spike of 1100% in online abuse following the race, including death threats to Antonelli. 

Lambiase personally spoke with Antonelli after the Lusail race, with Red Bull also issuing a statement against Antonelli's treatment. 

Reflecting on the situation, Antonelli's team-mate and team leader, Russell, felt the abusers had "no excuse" for their actions.

"I think it's pretty unacceptable what happened and what was written and the abuse online," Russell told media, including RacingNews365. 

"Obviously, it all started with a mistake from the Red Bull guys, and of course, they apologised, and that's okay. People make mistakes, especially when they don't have the full facts. 

"But I think those thousands of people behind their keyboards have no excuse and really need to take a hard look at themselves in the mirror and think why that is acceptable, not just for F1, but just society altogether. 

"I just struggle to comprehend it, really. So that's all I can say."