Nicholas Latifi ‘ramped up’ security following death threats received after Abu Dhabi GP

Nicholas Latifi ‘ramped up’ security following death threats received after Abu Dhabi GP

Nicholas Latifi

Williams Formula One driver Nicholas Latifi was on the receiving end of endless online abuse and death threats. The Canadian crashed in the dying laps of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The crash set out the Safety car which would change and effectively decide the Championship.

The late lunge by Max Verstappen with fresher tyres on race leader Lewis Hamilton sealed the title for the Dutchman. Max lifted his maiden world championship title but many spurred hate online against the Latifi who has since been beefing up his own personal security.

On lap 56 of the race, during which Hamilton was leading, Race Director Micheal Masi allowed only the five cars directly in front of championship contender Verstappen to unlap themselves before the restart. On the final lap of the race, Verstappen overtook Hamilton on fresher tyres and won the 2021 World Drivers’ Championship.

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Nicholas Latifi: “All it takes is that one in a million”

Nicholas Latifi
Nicholas Latifi

While on a Pre-season holiday the Canadian was spotted gearing up his personal security to the maximum. He was spotted at Winter Wonderland with his girlfriend. Latifi spoke out and gave his clarification on the need to max out his personal security during the holidays.

“It sounds silly to some people,” Latifi said. “But at the end of the day, you don’t know how serious people are. All it could take is one drunk fan at an airport, or you bump into someone that’s having a bad day – intoxicated or under the influence of something – and has these really extreme opinions. All it takes is that one in a million,” he added.

“So, [after] some days I was back in London after the race and I did have some security with me when I was doing certain things. It’s just an unfortunate reality of the world we live in and there were extreme death threats that went way over the line,” said the Canadian.

Latifi revealed he received a supportive message from Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes but refused to go into the details of the message. Several drivers, including Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz, spoke out against the hate drivers face from some extreme fans.

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