Editor's Desk: Verstappen and stopping keyboard warriors

Max Verstappen's statement came in the aftermath of winning the 2022 Mexico City Grand Prix, on a weekend were he and his team have collectively decided to boycott Sky Sports F1 for comments made by the broadcaster's Ted Kravitz back in Austin.

Ever since the 2021 Formula 1 season was over with Verstappen winning the Title in the season finale in Abu Dhabi after a controversial Safety Car period, and given the bitter rivalry between him and his rival at the time Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, social media platforms have been in overdrive.

The reason for that is that the legions of Hamilton and Verstappen fans have been having a virtual fight of their own over various social media platforms some doubting the Dutchman's Title and some defending it with all the toxicities delivered by what we at GrandPrix247 dubbed as "Digital Maggots".

Asked about the toxicity on social media in the post-race press conference in Mexico, Verstappen said: "I think it's just the sport is more popular so there are more people watching, so more people are writing. I think it's just that.

"It's not great that they are allowed to write these kinds of things so I hope we can come up with a kind of algorithm that stops people from being keyboard warriors.

"Because these kind of people… they will never come up to you and say these things in front of your face, because they're sitting in front of their desk or whatever at home, being upset, being frustrated, and they can write whatever they like because the platform allows you to.

"That can be really damaging and hurtful to some people and it's not how it should be," the 2021 and 2022 F1 Champion concluded.

We have previously reported what Hamilton has said about social media "getting more and more toxic as the years go on" urging to "get off it" citing the negative impact on mental health, which speaks volumes coming from someone who has over the years mastered the art of social media.

Sergio Perez also weighed in, lamenting how people on social media can "insult you, insult your family and just sitting behind the desk".

"They don't understand that we are also human beings," Perez added. "And I think this has got to stop. And, obviously, as a sport, we need to also be responsible of what we post, by ourselves.

"We all have a lot of followers so it's very important that we try to get the sport in the right way because Formula 1, it's a great sport and has great values, but has to do more in that regard.

"And just in general, the social media world is getting far too toxic," the Mexican concluded.

What triggered this piece, apart from the fact that we at GrandPrix247 take this matter very seriously, is what Verstappen said in the Mexican press conference, the exact words he used.

It is something that has been the subject of long discussions, Editor in Chief Paul Velasco and I have had for some time now, especially after the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and what went down then.

It is as if Max was sitting right with us when we have discussed "keyboard warriors" who don't have the balls to face you with their statements but hide behind their screens while shooting their mouths off, and when Paul and I spoke of the responsibility of all social media platforms to purge themselves - via revised algorithms - from what we refer to as "Digital Maggots" who would stop at nothing as they insult, abuse, and offend other users and celebrities, in our particular case; F1 drivers.

At GrandPrix247, we have had our fair share of those "Digital Maggots" that attack us, our contributors, other commentators, and even readers who follow our site on our various social media platforms. Even F1 drivers have been unrightfully attacked in comments on some of our articles and posts.

Ever since, we have been on a mission to cleanse our "zone" from all culprits, who post offensive, abusive, and even racist comments about F1 drivers or other fellow commentators, which is not easy and time consuming, but it is something we insist on doing despite our limited resources.

We believe, in this day and age of social media, that instead of boasting massive followings on our platforms, we should be focusing more on quality instead of quantity.

We should make sure that visitors to our platforms have an enjoyable experience interacting with others, sharing opinions, debating in a healthy respectful environment without having to worry about abusive "Agents", or again "Digital Maggots" who create hundreds and thousands of fake accounts to use them in their dastardly actions.

Lewis may have suggested that we get off social media, but the reality is we cannot, so let's clean them up, make them a better place for communication.

We are doing our part in this war on "Digital Maggots", and we are proud of it, no matter how small it may be, but we now call on Formula 1, the FIA, all F1 teams and drivers to do the same, and intensify this fight that the "Drive it Out" initiative has started.

Let Formula 1 lead by example.