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McLaren Formula 1 driver Lando Norris has opened up about the reasons behind his public apology to Franco Colapinto following their collision in Azerbaijan, while strongly condemning the wave of social media abuse triggered by his initial fiery comments.
Following their clash in Baku, Norris lashed out at the Argentine driver, even suggesting he deserved a race ban. The Briton quickly contacted Colapinto to apologise for his heated remarks, but had already found himself on the receiving end of a barrage of abuse from the South American's supporters.
To diffuse the tension, the McLaren star opted to issue a public statement, despite maintaining that Colapinto was the only person he genuinely needed to address.
"I did it more for the public," Norris explained in Malaysia. "I said everything I wanted to Franco. He was the only person I truly needed to share my view with and apologise to. It wasn't necessary to do it on social media, but with all the noise, I felt it made sense to show publicly that I had apologised. I admit I was in the wrong."
Norris noted that the conversation between the two drivers was brief and constructive, with both acknowledging their respective mistakes regarding the Baku incident.
"I apologised for some of my words, which were out of line, and he apologised for the incident, which was very fair," Norris said. "I really like Franco; he's a great guy. We often chat during track walks and drivers' parades. We just cleared the air, apologised to one another, and moved on."
However, the British driver did not hide his dismay over online toxicity, calling on tech platforms to take firmer action against hate speech.
"Unfortunately, this is something not just we, but all modern sport deals with," he noted. "Part of it comes from the emotion and passion that are natural to the sport. But when it crosses into online harassment and death threats, it goes way beyond normal fandom. Social media platforms and sporting bodies need to do far more to stop this because not everyone can easily handle that kind of pressure."
Although he has significantly scaled back his social media presence, Norris insisted the backlash would not deter him from speaking his mind in the future.
"I shouldn't have said some of those things, and I understand why people were upset," the driver concluded. "That said, I'll always stand by my right to speak freely. I know I can't please everyone and that there will never be total agreement—that's completely normal and just part of life."
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