The McLaren Formula 1 team are set to launch an investigation over historic social media abuse aimed at Lewis Hamilton.
A McLaren employee's social media account allegedly unleashed a series of abusive messages about Hamilton from their private accounts.
Once the posts resurfaced online, their Twitter and TikTok accounts were subsequently deleted.
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When Hamilton tested positive for Covid-19 ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix back in December 2020, a post read: "What a f**king w****r he truly is! Couldn't stand seeing someone do well!"
That was in reference to Hamilton being replaced by George Russell at the Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain.
Russell, who is now his teammate at Mercedes, led for most of the race before his team fitted the wrong tyres which saw him eventually finish down in ninth place.
The account is thought to have replied "f**king p***k" to a tweet from the official Formula 1 account that tagged the British driver last year.
Following Hamilton's knighthood, they wrote: "Oh f**k off! For having the fasted car on the grind. What a w****r."
The seven-time Formula 1 champion - which includes a championship at McLaren in 2008, was also abused after he was disqualified from qualifying at the Brazilian Grand Prix in November last year.
A message read: "F**king get in!!! F**k off you p***k."
McLaren's official Twitter account released a statement, pledging to investigate the posts after they came to light on Friday.
"We consider these comments to be completely at odds with our values and culture at McLaren," the statement read.
"We take the matter extremely seriously and are investigating it as a priority."
Topics: Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton
Nasir Jabbar