'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The aftermath of the 2022 F1 Dutch GP brought out the ugly face of the sport and even Red Bull's Hannah Schmitz could not escape it. The principal strategy engineer for the Austrian team was one of the targets of online abuse by Lewis Hamilton fans all over social media. She wasn't the only one though as Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull, AlphaTauri, and even Hamilton's teammate George Russell were targeted. This also highlighted the utter uselessness of F1's #DriveItOut campaign.
Now, before we get to it, let's first walk you through the background of why there was a sudden eruption of abuse and what happened in the aftermath.
The Background
The 2022 F1 Dutch GP was one of the best opportunities for Mercedes to win its first race of the season. The car was quick, it had fantastic tire wear, and it had both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell running 3 seconds apart in P2 and P3 with Max Verstappen yet to make his second stop.
In all probability, whenever Verstappen would make his pitstop, he would come out behind both the Mercedes drivers and would have to overtake them to win the race. Now, earlier in the race, Verstappen had shown the benefit of being on fresher tires as he breezed past Russell without much of a fight. Having said that, there were still overtakes that needed to be made and Hamilton had an outside chance of a surprise win.
Without going into too much detail, Yuki Tsunoda's rather innocuous reliability issue brought out the Virtual Safety Car, gave Verstappen a free pitstop, and ended Hamilton's chances of a surprise win.
Things got even worse as a late-stage safety car saw Hamilton left to fend for himself at the front on old medium tires with the chasing pack on fresh soft tires. With Russell requesting a change of tires during the safety car, Hamilton was left completely exposed to Verstappen's attack. The race ended with the Briton shouting on his radio and finishing outside of the podium places.
The Aftermath
It was this unfortunate turn of events that infuriated a section of Lewis Hamilton fans. So much so that George Russell was targeted for pitting during the safety car period and leaving Hamilton exposed. Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri, and Red Bull were accused of 'fixing' the race, which was 'apparently' masterminded by none other than Red Bull's principal strategy engineer, Hannah Schmitz.
The amount of abuse doled out was almost ugly to watch. Things were so bad that AlphaTauri had to come out with a statement about how baseless these accusations were.
The toothlessness of F1's #DriveItOut campaign
Although the issue has somewhat died down now, it has done so after exposing something that was alluded to by none other than Lewis Hamilton. The Briton has called out the sport for becoming far too much about 'spreading the message' rather than taking action.
Just before the recent summer break, the sport had introduced another campaign against online abuse. The #DriveItOut campaign was supposed to be the first step in eliminating animosity and propagating respect within the sport.
Even now, if we go to F1's official Twitter handle, we will see that the campaign's launch tweet is pinned at the top for everyone to see. As Hamilton had said, however, it's all just talk!
While AlphaTauri has come out with a statement of its own, and respected F1 pundits like Karun Chandhok have made it a point to speak out about the abuse received by the personnel, there's not been a peep from the sporting body.
There's been complete radio silence from the FIA, almost as if nothing has happened! In a way, this reveals a lot about the way these campaigns have been run. The sport has been more about marketing itself as an environment where abuse is not tolerated. Other than marketing, when it comes to taking concrete steps instead of making catchy videos, it all falls apart.
What needs to be done?
It's alright if F1 does not want to intervene in this situation. There are many other sports where the governing bodies let the fans be the way they are.
UFC president Dana White has been vocal about not getting involved in policing the fans. Similarly, Indian cricketer Arshdeep Singh was recently subjected to online abuse for his performance in a match against Pakistan, but the governing body was not seen stepping in.
It's almost impossible for sport to tame the beast known as 'social media'. Many have even termed it part and parcel of the sports that we are part of. Having said that, F1 has shown a propensity to policing this behavior with its #DriveItOut campaign.
Acknowledging the Abuse
The question that then needs to be asked here is what 'action' is to be taken in this scenario? The answer to this lies in, first of all, acknowledging the abuse. If F1 pundits like Karun Chandhok are quick enough to speak out about this, then there is no excuse for the sport to sit silently. Moreover, for anyone who goes through social media, one thing that is quite visible these days is the hate that top F1 personalities get.
This propagation of hate has seen so many accounts develop a significant following on social media and hence the hate gets magnified even more. The 'tin-foiled hat' nature of accusations when Sergio Perez spun during qualifying for the 2022 F1 Dutch GP or an even more preposterous claim over Yuki Tsunoda's 'suspicious' issue is still acceptable. Whole-hearted abuse and vitriolic attacks on Tsunoda, Red Bull, Hannah Schmitz, or George Russell are not!
Some accounts have grown in prominence in the last year or so by projecting the 'Pro-Lewis Hamilton' or 'Pro-Max Verstappen' image on social media. You dig deeper and you find that these accounts are inundated with abuses of Toto Wolff, Christian Horner, Max Verstappen, and Lewis Hamilton.
In this day and age, Hate Sells! There's no surprise in that. This, however, is where F1 is supposed to step in. In no way are we suggesting a curb on freedom of expression. What we are suggesting is to clamp down on the abuse the F1 personnel get.
Put a mechanism in place!
There should be a mechanism in place where these accounts are reported and removed from Twitter. Additionally, while it is commendable that drivers are given some ownership in all of this, they need to be separated from the fanbase. Lewis Hamilton is not responsible for his abusive fans on social media. Similarly, Max Verstappen is not responsible for the behavior of the Orange army.
What F1 needs is a statement of intent that shows that this kind of abuse is not acceptable in any way. Once the sport does that, even though it will not eradicate all of it, there will be a marked difference.
The sport has been called out by the drivers themselves for its "gimmicky" campaigns. It's about time it gives "action" precedence over the "message".
