Following the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which was won by Max Verstappen, racer and Sky Sports F1 pundit Naomi Schiff faced a senseless Twitter troll who questioned her suitability for the role.
The 28-year-old started her racing career when she was just 11-years-old, and has gone on to race in a number of championships, including prototype, GT and single seater cars, winning the 2014 Clip Cup Asia Championship title, the 2018 KTM GT4 X-Bow Battle Championship title and taking 2nd place in the 2018 ADAC Zurich 24 Hours Nurburgring.
In 2019, Schiff raced in the W Series; since then she’s become the championship’s Diversity and Inclusion Ambassador.
Schiff today is still a professional racing driver and stunt driver, when not being an analyst on Sky Sports F1.
She joined the broadcasting team at the start of this season, providing excellent insight from a driver’s perspective.
Despite her lengthy list of credentials, her purpose for being an analyst on Sky Sports was questioned by an unhappy Twitter user.
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Initially, Schiff simply responded with three yawning emojis, before the troll was put well and truly in their place by a certain seven-time World Champion.
Sir Lewis Hamilton was quick to defend Schiff, branding her a “great asset” to the Sky Sports team.
“Naomi is an ex-professional racing driver & totally qualified to give her opinion as part of the Sky team,” Hamilton said.
“She’s been a great asset since joining & we should welcome more representative broadcasting with open arms.
“Still have a long way to go to change these attitudes in sport,” Hamilton concluded on Twitter.
Since the unnecessary incident, Schiff has released a statement via her Twitter account to her 36k followers.
“Thank you to everyone who has come to my defence. I appreciate all the love and support, none of you go unnoticed!” she said.
“Sadly the issue of online bullying, bashing, shaming etc. is one I don’t believe is going anywhere anytime soon.
“Social media, in some cases, gives voices to individuals who don’t deserve to be heard. So I encourage anyone reading this to not indulge in it or retaliate or seek revenge.
“Remember that your words do have impact and that therefore we should do something positive with these platforms and be kind to one another.
“Lastly, I love my job and won’t let anyone turn down my ambition or passion because they are uncomfortable with the volume.”
Sky Sports F1, as a result of the Twitter trolling aimed at Schiff, released the following statement:
“Naomi has been an excellent addition to our award-winning F1 team. Her experiences as a driver and her passion for and expertise of the sport have been welcomed by millions of viewers so far this season. Hate won’t win.”