FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has spoken out against ongoing online abuse against drivers like Jack Doohan and Yuki Tsunoda.

The abuse has been linked to Argentine fans of Franco Colapinto, which has been bad enough for Doohan to plead that people leave his family alone.

FIA responds to online abuse as drivers beg for a reprieve

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

While on a push lap in practice for the Imola Grand Prix, Yuki Tsunoda drove up on Franco Colapinto and was forced to back off to avoid a collision.

Tsunoda responded by gesticulating in Colapinto’s direction; many interpreted the hand motion to be the middle finger, but that was incorrect.

Colapinto fans, however, took to social media to bombard Yuki Tsunoda’s social media with hateful remarks, many of which could be described as racist.

Tsunoda responded to the abuse in Imola when prompted by PlanetF1.com, saying, “I heard about it but, to be honest, I guess it’s not just about me, if I heard correctly.

“They’re going everywhere, to be honest, and then they’re going for Jack [Doohan] – Jack didn’t do anything wrong, and they’re going for it. So that’s a bit unnecessary.

“It’s been normal that you get frustrated if you have traffic, and I got it multiple times. I think I have the right to say something, but I didn’t say something wrong thing, or a very bad thing.

“I just show the frustration, and that’s it.

“I know they are supporting their own country’s driver, but there’s always a line that they can say something, I guess.

“I’m saying this… not because of me or not what they say to me but they said too much things to Doohan, and I don’t think he was driving in a comfortable way.

“It’s good that they have energy, but just control it, and I feel like they can use the energy in the right way and in a much better way.”

Tsunoda also noted that, “If it still continues and it’s getting worse and worse, for sure, at some point F1 should say something.”

For his own part, Franco Colapinto also acknowledged that his fans can be “harsh.”

“I know they are extremely passionate, and they are always very harsh on people,” the Argentine driver said.

“They have to give respect, and that’s what we all want.

“There is a lot of hate on social media, and that’s what I would think. So, of course, we always try and want – for all the drivers – to keep it respectful and keep it calm there.”

Jamie Campbell-Walter, part of Colapinto’s management team, even went so far as to beg people to stop “bullying and being annoying” toward Alpine’s social media account while Jack Doohan was driving for the team.

More on online abuse in Formula 1:

👉 Reshared Franco Colapinto post sparks online ‘backlash’

👉 Yuki Tsunoda issues response to social media abuse after Franco Colapinto incident

Tsunoda hasn’t been the only person to face abuse at the hands of Argentine fans. Jack Doohan recently took to Instagram Stories — a feature that shares images for just 24 hours — to point out the “completely false” narrative circulating about his family.

Doohan shared two screenshots: An original screenshot of a story from his father Mick Doohan, who shared a post from an account called @romanianF1 that displayed all of Doohan’s race results thus far.

The second screenshot was fabricated and shows the Jack Doohan image replaced by a screenshot of Franco Colapinto crashing his car with the caption ‘Very impressive’ followed by three crying laughing emojis.

Jack Doohan wrote, “As you can clearly see, the story circulating above is completely false. It was fabricated by Argentine fans attempting to portray me and my family in a negative light.

“They edited the original content to make it appear as though my father posted it, which is entirely untrue.

“Please stop harassing my family. I didn’t think it would have to get to this point.”

The issue has become so prevalent that FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem took to Instagram to share an official statement.

“Motorsport is built on competition, passion, and commitment, and every race drivers take to the track representing these values,” Ben Sulayem wrote on social media.

“The passion and excitement that we feel for our sport should unite us and never be twisted into abuse or hate.

“I stand in full sport of Yuki Tsunoda and Franco Colapinto, and I thank them for speaking out against the growing issue of online abuse in motorsport.

“No one should be subjected to threats, hatred, or discrimination. There is no place for abuse or toxicity in our community.

“Through the United Against Online Abuse campaign, we are taking decisive action – raising awareness, providing support, and driving change.

“We are committed to safeguarding the wellbeing of everyone in our sport, and together we can build a safer, more respectful environment for all.”

This is not the first time that Argentine fans have been at the center of online drama regarding the motorsport scene.

In IndyCar, fans of Argentine racer Agustin Canapino launched online attacks against Canapino’s teammates and rivals, with former F1 hopefuls Theo Pourchaire and Callum Ilott taking the brunt of the frustration.

Canapino denied that any fans had sent “death threats” to those drivers because he hadn’t seen them. Colapinto, however, has acknowledged that abuse has been taking place.

Read next: Imola GP conclusions: Verstappen’s Piastri lesson, McLaren’s fear, Tsunoda’s wobble