Formula 1 is followed by some of the most passionate fans in global sport, with race weekends sparking waves of online debate and reaction. But which F1 drivers take the most heat from fans online?
Data experts at Canada Sports Betting analyzed nearly 100,000 relevant comments on X (formerly Twitter) to find out, and the results may surprise you. From rookies to world champions, fans do not hold back when it comes to criticism, insults, and the occasional show of respect.
The Most Insulted F1 Drivers
We ranked every driver by an Insult Score (0–100), which measures the share of negative and insulting comments directed at them.
Lance Stroll tops the list as the most insulted F1 driver, with nearly 30% of comments about him marked negative and more than 11% containing direct insults. That gave him an Insult Score of 95 out of 100, the highest on the grid.
Close behind were Lando Norris and Liam Lawson, both attracting a heavy share of critical and insulting comments despite their popularity among fans. On the other end, Max Verstappen and Franco Colapinto came out with the lowest insult scores, showing that even in the heated world of Formula 1, some drivers are less likely to be targeted online.
Here’s how the most insulted F1 drivers stack up on X, ranked from most to least.
| Driver (Nationality/Number) | Team | Total Comments | Negative % | Insulting % | Insult Score (0–100) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇨🇦 Lance Stroll (#18) | Aston Martin | 5000 | 29.82% | 11.12% | 95.37 |
| 🇬🇧 Lando Norris (#4) | McLaren | 5000 | 24.54% | 8.60% | 68.93 |
| 🇳🇿 Liam Lawson (#30) | Racing Bulls | 5000 | 25.62% | 7.60% | 65.51 |
| 🇦🇺 Jack Doohan (#7) | Alpine* | 5000 | 31.90% | 4.42% | 60.97 |
| 🇬🇧 George Russell (#63) | Mercedes | 3215 | 23.18% | 5.35% | 46.97 |
| 🇦🇺 Oscar Piastri (#81) | McLaren | 5000 | 21.30% | 5.84% | 45.63 |
| 🇩🇪 Nico Hülkenberg (#27) | Kick Sauber | 5000 | 16.72% | 7.28% | 43.82 |
| 🇮🇹 Kimi Antonelli (#12) | Mercedes | 5000 | 23.62% | 4.42% | 42.53 |
| 🇪🇸 Carlos Sainz (#55) | Williams | 5000 | 22.66% | 3.84% | 37.01 |
| 🇲🇨 Charles Leclerc (#16) | Ferrari | 5000 | 16.92% | 5.90% | 36.23 |
| 🇬🇧 Oliver Bearman (#87) | Haas | 2877 | 19.46% | 4.73% | 35.07 |
| 🇬🇧 Lewis Hamilton (#44) | Ferrari | 5000 | 15.66% | 5.38% | 30.39 |
| 🇫🇷 Isack Hadjar (#6) | Racing Bulls | 5000 | 16.06% | 5.02% | 29.19 |
| 🇫🇷 Esteban Ocon (#31) | Haas | 5000 | 17.32% | 4.50% | 28.96 |
| 🇪🇸 Fernando Alonso (#14) | Aston Martin | 5000 | 22.10% | 2.64% | 28.78 |
| 🇧🇷 Gabriel Bortoleto (#5) | Kick Sauber | 2260 | 19.42% | 3.36% | 27.00 |
| 🇯🇵 Yuki Tsunoda (#22) | Red Bull Racing | 2630 | 17.91% | 3.57% | 24.86 |
| 🇹🇭 Alexander Albon (#23) | Williams | 5000 | 15.74% | 4.16% | 23.47 |
| 🇫🇷 Pierre Gasly (#10) | Alpine | 5000 | 18.88% | 2.84% | 22.77 |
| 🇳🇱 Max Verstappen (#1) | Red Bull Racing | 5000 | 13.94% | 4.24% | 19.92 |
| 🇦🇷 Franco Colapinto (#43) | Alpine | 5000 | 22.82% | 0.82% | 19.78 |
The Most Praised F1 Drivers
It’s not all negativity. Some drivers are praised more often than others in online conversations.
Isack Hadjar ranks first, with nearly 38% of all comments about him being positive. Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri also scored highly, showing they enjoy strong fan support despite the pressure of the spotlight. At the other end, Franco Colapinto received praise in only 10% of comments, giving him the lowest positivity rating among all drivers.
Here’s how the most praised F1 drivers stack up on X, ranked from most to least.
| Driver (Nationality/Number) | Team | Total Comments | Positive % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇫🇷 Isack Hadjar (#6) | Racing Bulls | 5000 | 37.92% |
| 🇳🇱 Max Verstappen (#1) | Red Bull Racing | 5000 | 35.28% |
| 🇦🇺 Oscar Piastri (#81) | McLaren | 5000 | 34.50% |
| 🇬🇧 Lewis Hamilton (#44) | Ferrari | 5000 | 34.20% |
| 🇲🇨 Charles Leclerc (#16) | Ferrari | 5000 | 32.58% |
| 🇫🇷 Esteban Ocon (#31) | Haas | 5000 | 32.12% |
| 🇩🇪 Nico Hülkenberg (#27) | Kick Sauber | 5000 | 30.74% |
| 🇬🇧 Lando Norris (#4) | McLaren | 5000 | 28.58% |
| 🇬🇧 George Russell (#63) | Mercedes | 3215 | 27.74% |
| 🇪🇸 Carlos Sainz (#55) | Williams | 5000 | 25.60% |
| 🇹🇭 Alexander Albon (#23) | Williams | 5000 | 25.36% |
| 🇳🇿 Liam Lawson (#30) | Racing Bulls | 5000 | 25.22% |
| 🇨🇦 Lance Stroll (#18) | Aston Martin | 5000 | 24.52% |
| 🇯🇵 Yuki Tsunoda (#22) | Red Bull Racing | 2630 | 24.14% |
| 🇬🇧 Oliver Bearman (#87) | Haas | 2877 | 23.91% |
| 🇮🇹 Kimi Antonelli (#12) | Mercedes | 5000 | 23.22% |
| 🇪🇸 Fernando Alonso (#14) | Aston Martin | 5000 | 22.38% |
| 🇫🇷 Pierre Gasly (#10) | Alpine | 5000 | 22.28% |
| 🇦🇺 Jack Doohan (#7) | Alpine* | 5000 | 20.34% |
| 🇧🇷 Gabriel Bortoleto (#5) | Kick Sauber | 2260 | 19.91% |
| 🇦🇷 Franco Colapinto (#43) | Alpine | 5000 | 10.42% |
What Fans Actually Say: The Most Used Insults
Beyond the percentages, we also looked at the words themselves to see which insults fans use most often.
Across the board, the classic F-word dominates, especially for Lance Stroll, where it made up nearly 72% of all insults against him. But not every driver is hit with the same language.
- Gabriel Bortoleto saw “sh**” as his most common insult, making up half of all insults about him.
- Franco Colapinto was more often hit with “Bullsh**,” at 20%.
Yuki Tsunoda also saw “sh**” as his top insult, making up 27% of the insults in his mentions.
Here are the top insult words directed at F1 drivers on X.
| Driver | Most Used Insult Word (Redacted) | Share of Insults (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Alexander Albon | F**k | 40.48% |
| Carlos Sainz | F**k | 33.33% |
| Charles Leclerc | F**k | 34.34% |
| Esteban Ocon | F**k | 50.82% |
| Fernando Alonso | F**k | 54.17% |
| Franco Colapinto | Bullsh** | 20.00% |
| Gabriel Bortoleto | Sh** | 50.00% |
| George Russell | F**k | 50.57% |
| Isack Hadjar | Sh** | 37.93% |
| Jack Doohan | F**k | 26.37% |
| Kimi Antonelli | F**k | 53.49% |
| Lance Stroll | F**k | 71.89% |
| Lando Norris | F**k | 46.64% |
| Lewis Hamilton | F**k | 31.75% |
| Liam Lawson | F**k | 55.50% |
| Max Verstappen | F**k | 35.82% |
| Nico Hülkenberg | F**k | 34.38% |
| Oliver Bearman | F**k | 51.61% |
| Oscar Piastri | F**k | 35.38% |
| Pierre Gasly | F**k | 38.46% |
| Yuki Tsunoda | Sh** | 26.92% |
The Bottom Line
From Lance Stroll’s high Insult Score to Isack Hadjar’s strong positivity rating, the analysis highlights the wide spectrum of fan sentiment across Formula 1 drivers. Some receive heavy criticism, others attract praise, and nearly all face a mix of both.
One thing is clear: Formula 1 fans on X never hold back. Whether you’re following the drama on track or the debate online, fan sentiment can be just as unpredictable as a Grand Prix itself. For those looking to go beyond the conversation, you can check the latest Formula 1 or Motor Sports action from the best sports betting apps, and stay connected throughout the 2025 season.
Methodology
To uncover the most insulted Formula 1 drivers, we analyzed the latest comments from this year on X (formerly Twitter) mentioning every driver on the grid. All comments studied included the driver’s name to ensure relevance.
- Data Collection: We used the Twitter API to gather up to 5,000 tweets per driver.
- Filtering: Removed irrelevant or duplicate tweets and stripped out links, mentions, emojis, and other noise.
- Sentiment Analysis: Applied VADER sentiment analysis to classify comments as positive, neutral, or negative.
- Insult Detection: Used a custom-built lexicon of insults and offensive terms to flag abusive content.
- Metrics: For each driver, we calculated:
- % of negative comments
- % of insulting comments
- % of positive comments
- Most used insult word
- An Insult Score (0–100) for comparability
You can find the full dataset here: F1 Most Insulted Drivers 2025