Lando Norris during the drivers’ press conference for the 2022 British Grand Prix.
IMAGO / PanoramiC
Lando Norris is perhaps one of the most popular names in the F1 paddock and he has amassed millions of followers on social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter, as well as streaming on Twitch.
But the 22-year-old revealed this week in an interview with The Sun that he had received online abuse and death threats. And he’s not the only one – his girlfriend, Portuguese model Luisinha Oliveira, has apparently also seen an influx of hate.
“Whether it’s about my personal life, me and my girlfriend, especially the amount of hate pages dedicated to Luisinha now. It’s pretty terrifying,” Norris said. “They’re on Instagram and Twitter, they’re the main ones. It’s not easy because if you come from such a different life in Formula 1, it’s the biggest contrast.
“Having a normal life and suddenly having a lot of followers, she has to be more careful about what she says and does.” In racing you go through it a bit more slowly and learn to adapt to it. From Formula Four to Formula Three and to Formula Two. Formula 1 is a big step, but for her, she has never watched a race before.
“And suddenly being in the spotlight is extremely difficult for someone to go through and the amount of comments she gets – and I want to protect her.”
The McLaren driver later added: “Not enough is being done. I report the things I see, but there are so many that I don’t have time to go through them all.”
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Norris detailed the online abuse he’s seen during Thursday’s drivers’ news conference, saying he doesn’t think he’s the only driver receiving hate. And he’s not. Nicholas Latifi has also spoken out about death threats he received following the 2021 season finale. His latest smash sparked a controversial ending that sparked a barrage of abuse sent his way.
As one of the younger drivers in the paddock, Norris has grown as social media continues to flourish. It has embraced consistent sharing across platforms, recently adding TikTok to the mix this year.
“Maybe I’ve been more open than probably other guides in talking about it, about certain topics and certain things, especially on the abuse side online. Especially because that’s how I grew up. I grew up on these platforms and Instagram, Twitter, Twitch, whatever,” the McLaren driver said on Thursday. “So, it’s just something that I love to be a part of and I’m very involved in it, but of course me and I’m sure almost every other driver gets a lot of hate and abuse and things like that. And I guess mentally it’s never easy to keep going through that. And there’s just no need for it whatsoever.”
He went on to point out that the fact that the hate is coming “from a person sitting behind their phone or a computer, whatever, it’s just weird to me that someone would waste their life doing something like that, you know? They don’t try to go out and have fun, spend time with their friends and make memories. They are trying to bring people down, which I think is a waste of our lives here. Very limited time that we get, so it’s a shame.”
Although the 22-year-old seemed at ease speaking during the press conference, he added that discussing this topic is not easy for him. During an interview with Sports Illustrated in April he said that one question he would like people to ask him is “Why do people hate you?” Despite how difficult the topic is to discuss, he knows he can help impact someone else’s life by bringing these issues to light.
“It’s something, especially with the comments you get back and the change people say I’ve had in their lives and the impact I’ve had on their lives. Whether or not I’m confident in talking about it, the impacts you can have outweigh all of that. So if there’s anything I can help with — I’m sure every driver wants to help — then when you have that opportunity, you can potentially save someone’s life. That means more than anything.”
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