Former Formula 1 race winner Ralf Schumacher has urged legal action to be taken against those responsible for sending death threats to Esteban Ocon following the Chinese Grand Prix.
Ocon and Franco Colapinto were engaged in an intense battle following Colapinto stopping for tyres, the Argentine struggling to put temperature into them.
The duo collided shortly after, Ocon punting the Alpine into a spin and down the order, while the Frenchman continued on.
Ocon took immediate responsibility for the clash, and was duly given a 10-second penalty for causing the collision.
Following the race, Colapinto’s management urged the Argentine’s fans not to send death threats to Ocon, which were ignored by a select number, the Frenchman receiving unacceptable messages on social media.
Schumacher labelled the threats as “shameful”, confirming his experience of fandom during his racing days never reached the extremes of what Ocon faced.
“I think it’s actually very sad and shameful,” Schumacher said on the Backstage Boxengasse podcast. “
“I can’t say anything at all about it. I did always associate Argentina with emotion.
“Personally, I only knew Norberto Fontana (an Argentine driver), he was the only one I used to hang out with more often.
“Some may remember him. I always saw them as incredibly sympathetic family. When I was in Argentina at the time, for Formula 1, I didn’t experience that at all to that extreme.
“But around Colapinto, at least on the Internet … It doesn’t matter who stands in the way or is critical of him in any way, because they are insulted or threatened in the most terrible ways.”
Legal action to be considered?
Schumacher then called for legal action to be taken against the perpetrators of the death threats.
“I don’t care that much, it all passes me by,” he said.
“But I do have to say honestly that it’s a shame, and also doesn’t really belong in this sport. Maybe people should take a look at that. I also hope they will.
“Maybe they should also look into taking legal action against types like that. This just can’t be done. Violence, or incitement to violence via the Internet… I don’t think there is room for that anywhere in the world.
“I think in soccer you also have similar cases, especially in Germany. But maybe not as bad, I don’t know. But in Formula 1 … It just doesn’t belong in Formula 1, but those are the downsides of the Netflix stories. I think Formula 1 just used to be much more nuanced, and more for the pure motorsports fan.”
“Netflix has brought a lot more breadth, at least in terms of fans. Now it goes from young to old, and in all kinds of directions. I think it becomes clear then that things do go wrong at times, with so many characters colliding.”
Schumacher’s intervention highlights a part of F1 fandom not spoken about in public often, which is becoming an issue for drivers and other elite athletes around the world. Fans will always be passionate, but death threats are unacceptable and have no place in sport.
The calls for prosecution over perpetrators of death threats will only continue to grow.
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