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Alpine says it received ‘882 toxic comments’ on its social media channels and has threatened action against those committing online abuse.
The team suffered a dramatic day on track where its two drivers collided, with Fernando Alonso forced to pit for a new front wing which meant he struggled to come from the back of the back in the short sprint race format.
He finished 15th, but received a penalty for causing the ‘dangerous’ collision with team-mate Esteban Ocon that bumps him back to 18th.
Team principal Otmar Szafnauer said the drivers had let the team down after the result.
After the race, the team has now called out online abuse and comments it deems unacceptable surfacing on a large scale in the wake of the race.
A team statement read: “Whatever happens on track, there is absolutely no excuse for hateful comments abuse or toxicity to be directed towards our drivers, team members, fans or indeed anybody online.
“Of all of the comments that we received across our social media channels during and after today’s sprint qualifying, we received 882 toxic comments, 162 of which were severely toxic. This is wholly unacceptable.
“What we have seen today is, unfortunately, not an isolated incident. We continue to see hate and discrimination online and as a team, will not tolerate this.
“We will take action against individuals or groups who produce or disseminate social media posts that contain or encourage online abuse of our drivers, team members and fans.”
The statement did not highlight any particular comment or individual.
In July, Formula 1 launched a new campaign called ‘Drive it Out’ with the aim of reducing abuse both online and in person at race circuits.
And more recently the FIA revealed plans to work with an artificial intelligence specialist in an initial move to tackle the amount of online abuse around motorsport.
