Formula 1: Nicholas Latifi reflects on Abu Dhabi chaos and death threats he received

Williams driver Nicholas Latifi has said that he has moved on from the chaos of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December and the death threats that he received in the aftermath.

The 2021 Formula 1 season will live long in the memory as an epic campaign-long duel between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton played out race after race.

Indeed, it fittingly went to the final Grand Prix of the year and there was suitable drama to boot at the Yas Marina circuit, though it, unfortunately, left a pretty unsavoury taste in the mouth as to how it came about.

A Safety Car call by Michael Masi led to Max Verstappen taking the victory and the championship on the final lap from Lewis Hamilton and all hell broke loose, with the FIA investigation into those final laps still ongoing.

Indeed, the Safety Car was initially brought out after Latifi had hit the wall following a battle with Mick Schumacher and, suddenly and completely unnecessarily, he was drawing the ire from some who had the temerity to suggest the Canadian had done it on purpose to influence the result.

Others, meanwhile, were upset the incident had cost Hamilton the title and Latifi revealed in the days after that he had received shocking social media abuse, to the extent death threats were received.

At the time, though, he said he was mentally strong enough to deal with that and he has underlined the chapter since, with him saying ahead of the 2022 season he has moved on:

“I already feel it is behind me,” said Latifi, speaking to Sky Sports. “It was a tricky few days with everything going on afterwards but I mean, it’s part of the sport.

“It was kind of what I was expecting to happen as I mentioned in the post but I’m past it now and for sure, I guess once the season picks up