Ocon wants "big consequences" for F1 "keyboard warriors" after death threats

Esteban Ocon says online abuse from “keyboard warriors should not be tolerated", after his collision with Franco Colapinto in the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix led to death threats.

Haas driver Esteban Ocon immediately took the blame for the incident, for which he was penalised, and he also spoke to the Alpine driver after the race.

Despite that and the fact that Franco Colapinto still finished in the points, some fans took to social media to express their feelings.

The aggressive tone of some comments led to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem sending Ocon a letter of support, while also highlighting the governing body’s policy on abuse.

“Obviously there's been a lot going on,” said Ocon when asked by Crash.net about the comments.

“To be honest, I didn't pay too much attention to it, but I've seen what was going on online. The important thing for me was really to speak with Franco directly, to really tell him what I thought, and that I was sorry about the incident, because it was my fault on that one.

“And we had a good chat, everything was okay between us, of course. And I'm glad that he had a good race, nevertheless, and he still managed to score points, which was good.

“Yes for sure, any kind of abuse online that that we saw, it should not be tolerated at all and should have big consequences. It should not have any place in sport, or in our sport in general.

“But that's keyboard warriors, that's how they are. I think in the future it's going to become more of a thing, and there probably will be more consequences for these people.”

Regarding the message from Ben Sulayem he said: “The President sent me a letter afterwards. So yeah, it’s been a talking point for sure.”

Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu said he was proud of the way his driver had taken blame for the collision.

“I think Esteban straight away accepted that was his mistake, and that was, I think, very, very good,” he noted. “He said it straight away in the car, straight away I think after the race, and he spoke to Franco.

“So I think from our side, Esteban was 100% spot-on. That's how I'd like to see our drivers behave. So I'm very proud actually of Esteban, how he's been behaving.”