LANDO NORRIS has opened up about the abuse he receives on social media — including regularly receiving death threats.
The McLaren driver, 22, is bravely taking it in his stride, insisting it is the work of online trolls, who are “wasting their lives” peddling hate.
Lando Norris revealed he and girlfriend Luisinha Oliveira are after subject to hate online
Luisinha even has hate pages on Twitter and Instagram dedicated to her
But while he has grown up in the public eye, racing through the junior categories before joining McLaren in 2018, it is a different matter for his girlfriend, Luisinha Oliveira.
She is the same age as Norris but the Portuguese model has been thrust into the spotlight.
And despite Norris’ best efforts to shield her from the abuse, he says he is staggered by what she receives.
When quizzed by about his growing online following and whether he receives abuse — including death threats — Norris said: “Of course. It can be a very big variance of things.
Read More in Sport
“Whether it’s about my personal life, me and my girlfriend, especially the amount of hate pages dedicated to Luisinha now. It is pretty horrific.
“They are on Instagram and Twitter, they are the main ones.
“It is not an easy thing because if you come from such a different life to Formula One, it is the biggest contrast.
“Having a normal life to all of a sudden having lots of followers, she has to be more careful of what she says and does.
“In racing, you go through it a bit more slowly and you learn to adapt to it.
“Between Formula Four to Formula Three and up to Formula Two.
“Formula One’s a big step but for her, she’d never watched a race before.
“And suddenly being in that limelight is extremely tough for someone to go through and the amount of comments she gets — and I want to protect her.”
It is now 12 months on from Norris hitting the headlines when he was ambushed and mugged of his watch following England’s defeat to Italy in the Euro 2020 final.
He has since come to terms with the ordeal as he was leaving Wembley and is showing maturity in dealing with the online hate.
He added: “A lot of the comments are to do with my driving and accusations that different drivers get treated differently.
“Just because I’m British and driving in a British team, everyone thinks there’s always a bias for that.
“And then there are things I’ll say on the team’s radio where I always sound like I’m complaining, which I freaking hate.
“I’m just asking a normal question but because you’re breathing a bit quicker, it always comes across sounding like I’m complaining.
“What I find the funniest in a way is people are actually spending their one life on Earth just sat behind a computer trying to ruin and bully someone.
“When people are creating fake pages and fake chats, and fake WhatsApp messages, then I am like, ‘You’re actually spending your life doing that?’. They’re wasting their life.
“Not enough gets done. I report the things I see but, there are so many, I don’t have time to go through them all.
“I want to race, travel the world and meet new people and create experiences and they are behind their computer, in their bedroom.
“I just find it hilarious that’s what they choose to do with their lives.”
Norris, who enjoyed a rare weekend off in his new home in Monaco before this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone, says he is now feeling fighting fit again after a bout of tonsillitis.
Read More in Sport
The McLaren driver has endured an up-and-down season as his team have struggled for pace in certain races.
However, he did score a podium in Imola in April and currently sits in seventh place in the championship, behind Lewis Hamilton but comfortably ahead of team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, who is in 13th.
