Nicholas Latifi has revealed plans to work towards tackling online abuse in light of the threats he received following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The Canadian brought out a late Safety Car in the season finale that inadvertently played a role in the outcome of the championship, as Max Verstappen took the opportunity to pit for fresh tyres and overtake Lewis Hamilton when the race restarted. Latifi later spoke of how he had received "hate, abuse and death threats" on social media following the events of the race. After opening up about this, the Williams driver says he was sent messages of support from the likes of Hamilton and other members of the Mercedes team.
Latifi hopes to help others after online abuse
Two months on from the events of Abu Dhabi, Latifi admits that he has been looking into ways that he can help in tackling online abuse, an issue that he acknowledges affects a wide range of people as well as those within the sport. "I think this is an issue, irrespective of [who you are], even outside of drivers," Latifi told media including RacingNews365.com . "In any sport, it's always going to be there. Not even in sports - entertainment, arts industry. I definitely think there is a lot [...] that everyone can do on that front. "Personally, since being back from my holidays, I've been looking at ways myself to try and [help], first doing a bit more research. "Not so specific on the mental health aspect - obviously, mental health is the broader overriding theme - but specifically more along the themes of what I endured with the cyber bullying, hate, online abuse, which I guess is one of the more 'new generation' common contributors to potential mental health issues, especially for younger people, for teens and whatnot. "So yeah, I've been looking at ways to try and get involved, looking at different organisations and whatnot. There will be some things throughout the year that I will be doing, obviously nothing to say or announce yet."
"It is important to be open"
Latifi is not the only driver to bring the spotlight to such topics in recent times, with McLaren's Lando Norris having become a key figure in opening up the conversation around mental health . Given what he has recently experienced, Latifi thinks that it is important to continue to discuss these issues. "I think it is a very serious topic," the Canadian explained. "Especially now, more than ever. Maybe in previous years, it was a topic that maybe a lot of people didn't want to speak about, but it is one of the most important things in modern times. "And so I think it is important to be open, to talk about these certain things. Obviously Lando is one of the outspoken drivers about it. I think [for] everyone - whether it's a driver, teams, organisations as a whole - it's something that can definitely be pushed a bit more."
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