Social media abuse is once again dominating the Formula 1 headlines after the Mexican Grand Prix, as a result of Red Bull’s boycott of any Sky interviews at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
Max Verstappen claimed his fourth victory at the Mexican GP and his 14th of the season, meaning he eclipsed Sebastian Vettel’s and Michael Schumacher’s joint record for the most wins in a single season.
The Dutchman led from lights-to-flag in Mexico City, in what was perhaps the most boring race of the season so far; however, the same couldn’t be said for the action taking place off the circuit.
Broadcaster Sky came under fire from Red Bull and Verstappen during the weekend, after the double World Champion refused to talk to any of Sky’s broadcasters, regardless of the country.
READ: Fernando Alonso says Max Verstappen could be his next team-mate
This resulted in no Red Bull-based interviews on Sky UK, Germany or Italy, with the Austrians taking a stand against their “disrespectful” coverage.
Verstappen decided to take the action which he did, due to the broadcaster’s handling of the 2021 season finale, and, most recently, the ‘Cashgate’ scandal.
Red Bull were found guilty of having made a ‘minor’ breach of the 2021 budget cap, the year in which Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton to the title.
As a result, it was announced ahead of Mexico by the FIA that the Austrians would be fined $7 million and given a 10-percent reduction in aerodynamic research, a punishment Christian Horner labelled as “draconian”.
Sky’s handling of the penalty, amongst other things, seemingly put Verstappen over the edge, with the Dutchman explaining after the race why he decided to boycott Sky interviews in Mexico.
“It had nothing to do with this weekend, but this year it’s been a constant kind of like digging, being disrespectful, especially one particular person,” Verstappen explained after the race.
“And at one point it is enough, I don’t accept it.
“You can’t live in the past, you just have to move on. At the moment social media is a very toxic place and if you are constantly being like that live on TV, you make it constantly worse, instead of trying to make it better in the world.
“You keep disrespecting me and at one point I’m not tolerating it anymore. So that’s why I decided to stop answering.”
That “one particular person” is most likely to be Sky F1 reporter Ted Kravitz, who, during his post-session show ‘Ted’s Notebook’, called Hamilton an eight-time World Champion and said that he was “robbed”.
Kravitz has, at times, let his opinion run wild, something which perhaps shouldn’t be criticised due to honesty and free speech being valued.
Some have called it ‘unprofessional’, with Verstappen fans having seemingly decided to take their own action against the experienced journalist.
Verstappen fans have been found to have plastered shocking abuse over almost every social media post that Kravitz has ever uploaded, something Red Bull are yet to comment on.
It marks a weekend where Hamilton was also booed and jeered by fans, with Verstappen having also received the same reception at the United States Grand Prix.
FIA steward Silvia Bellot was targeted by social media trolls herself just a few days ago, after Fernando Alonso’s 30-second time penalty from the US Grand Prix was reverted.
It is clear something has to be done regarding social media abuse, especially at a time when mental health is as big an issue as it currently is.
Hamilton recently explained that everyone should “get off” social media, with the sites becoming “more toxic”.
READ: Lewis Hamilton addresses poor Mexican GP reception like a champion
“Social media is getting more and more toxic as the years go on,” said the Mercedes driver.
“We should all probably get off it ultimately.
“Mental health is such a prominent thing right now. I know so many people are reading their comments and what people say and it is hurtful.”