F1 news LIVE: Lewis Hamilton supports Nicholas Latifi after death threats

Michael Masi’s future as Formula One’s race director remains in the balance following a crunch meeting of the sport’s major players in London on Monday.

But two months and two days after the contentious Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – a race Hamilton said was “manipulated” following Masi’s handling of a late safety car period – the Australian’s fate is seemingly still to be determined.

FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem chaired the four-hour summit and is expected to address the continued fallout from Abu Dhabi later this week.

The 2022 Formula 1 season is just around the corner with the first race pencilled in for 20 March in Bahrain.

It was a quite remarkable conclusion to a year which had it all – excitement, overtaking, drama, controversy and incredible performances.

Now F1 fans are ready to watch it unfold once again and are awaiting the unveiling of the 10 team cars for the 2022 season.

Nicholas Latifi has compared the hate he received post-Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho after England lost on penalties to Italy at Euro 2020.

The Canadian driver crashed out with five laps remaining at the out with five laps remaining in the F1 2021 season finale, handing a late lifeline to eventual race winner and world champion Max Verstappen.

Irate Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton fans took to social media to vent their anger at Latifi, who has compared his situation to the Three Lions after penalty heartache at Wembley.

He said: “Even going outside of motorsport, the next most recent one was probably the Euros with the three English players missing the penalties and all the fallback they got after that.

“It is an issue that is here, unfortunately, in the world of social media. Social media brings a lot of good and gives people a lot of access to things they wouldn’t normally be able to engage with but at the same time, there are these negative pitfalls that could happen.

“It would be nice to hopefully find more ways to do better on that front.”

Lewis Hamilton has offered his support to Nicholas Latifi after the Canadian suffered hateful abuse following Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Latifi crashed out with five laps remaining to hand Max Verstappen a lifeline at the Yas Marina Circuit, with the subsequent safety car period crucial to the Red Bull driver securing a maiden world title.

Latifi even received death threats from Mercedes and Hamilton fans furious at the controversial ending to the race, but the Williams driver has revealed the support from the seven-time world champion and the Silver Arrows in the off-season.

“In terms of the support I got afterwards, Lewis did send me a message a few days after, just before I released the statement,” Latifi said.

“I did get some messages of support from other team members at Mercedes as well and yeah, obviously the whole outcry of support on social media from other drivers and teams across so many disciplines was really nice and encouraging to see.

“Obviously, everyone agreed with the whole sentiment and message and this has not been the only instance of a situation like this online abuse.”