Formula 1 has launched a new ‘Drive It Out’ initiative aimed at combating fan abuse.
In recent years there has been a growing number of incidents both online and at race events with abusive comments aimed at fellow fans, drivers and others in the F1 paddock.
Instances of drivers being booed and even cheered after crashing have also become more common, while the recent Austrian Grand Prix saw reports of racist, sexist and homophobic insults being thrown.
On Saturday, in response, F1 issued a video featuring CEO Stefano Domenicali, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and all the drivers calling on fans to join their campaign.
We are united in our desire to drive abuse of all kinds out of the sport we love, and we’re calling on the entire F1 family to join us#DriveItOut. Together. pic.twitter.com/j0x6vsoars
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 30, 2022
“Formula 1 is all about competition and rivalry, but also respect. Respect as competitors, respect for our fans, respect for the whole F1 family,” the message said.
“Abuse of any kind is unacceptable. If you cannot be respectful then don’t be part of our sport.
“We cannot let those who think they can abuse others get away with it. We have a duty to call this out and say ‘no more’.
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“We are acting as a community to block those who abuse others online. We won’t allow abuse at our races. But we also need social media platforms to tackle abuse online head-on.
“Those who hide behind social media with abusive and disrespectful views are not our fans. We are united and ask you to join us in driving this out of all sport and society. Drive it out together.”
At InsideRacing, we will be increasing our surveillance of social media posts with bans for any users posting derogatory comments.
