Nicholas Latifi has apologised to his Williams team after crashing out in the final stages of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, ending the season on a disappointing note.
The Canadian racer lost grip on the Yas Marina Circuit surface and span, hitting a barrier before coming to rest on the track.
It resulted in a safety car, which would have a dramatic effect on the outcome of both the Grand Prix itself and the F1 title race.
The safety car period allowed Max Verstappen to change onto new soft tyres and catch up to Lewis Hamilton, before the race was controversially restarted for the final lap.
Verstappen found the overtake he needed to snatch the drivers' title away from his rival, leaving the Briton's fans devastated and furious that the race had been decided in the way it had.
Race director Michael Masi, who made the call to resume racing for the final lap, has borne the brunt of much of the criticism and abuse.
But Latifi himself, whose role in the outcome of the race had been far more inadvertent, has now revealed he was targeted by vile trolls who directed abusive messages and death threats at him in the hours and days following the race.
In a heartfelt statement on Tuesday, the Canadian racer denounced the actions of those online abusers and said the only people he felt he needed to apologise to for the crash were the members of his team.
"Reflecting on what happened during the race, there was really only one group of people I needed to apologize to for the DNF: my team," he wrote.
"I did that right afterwards. Everything else that followed was out of my control."
The Canadian said he had deleted the Twitter and Instagram apps from his phone in the aftermath of the race as he had anticipated some backlash over the crash and what it led to.
But when he logged back on he was still shocked by the level of abuse that had been sent his way.
"The ensuing hate, abuse, and threats on social media were not really a surprise to me as it’s just the stark reality of the world we live in right now," he added.
"I’m no stranger to being talked about negatively online, I think every sports person who competes on the world stage knows they’re under extreme scrutiny and this comes with the territory sometimes.
"But as we’ve seen time and time again, across all different sports, it only takes one incident at the wrong time to have things completely blown out of proportion and bring out the worst in people who are so-called ‘fans’ of the sport.
"What shocked me was the extreme tone of the hate, abuse, and even the death threats I received.
"Some people said I was racing for a position that didn’t matter with only a handful of laps remaining.
"But whether I am racing for wins, podiums, points or even last place, I will always give it my all until the chequered flag. I’m the same as every other driver on the grid in that regard.
"To the people who don’t understand or don’t agree with that, that’s fine with me. You can have your opinion.
"But to use those opinions to fuel hatred, abuse and threats of violence, not only to me, but to those closest to me as well, tells me these people are not true fans of the sport.
"Thankfully, I’m comfortable enough in my own skin, and I’ve been in this world long enough that I can do a pretty good job of just letting any negativity wash over me.
"But I know I’m not alone in thinking that a negative comment always seems to stick out more – and can sometimes be enough to drown out 100 positive ones.
"People will have their opinions, and that’s fine. Having a thick skin is a huge part of being an athlete, especially when you are constantly in a position to be scrutinized.
"But many of the comments I received last week crossed the line into something far more extreme.
"It concerns me how somebody else might react if this same level of abuse was ever directed at them. No-one should let the activities of a vocal minority dictate who they are."
