The Red Bull driver was subjected to sickening messages after a first practice incident with the returning Franco Colapinto.

Yuki Tsunoda has called on F1 to intervene should the vile online racist abuse he received from Franco Colapinto fans escalate further.

On Colapinto’s return to F1 with Alpine, the Argentinian was involved in a minor on-track skirmish with Red Bull’s Tsunoda during the first practice session for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Friday. The Japanese driver appeared to gesticulate towards his rival after being impeded on a hot lap.

Colapinto’s followers then turned to social media, delivering a stream of despicable messages in Spanish to Tsunoda.

Asked for his response following qualifying at Imola, where he and Colapinto both crashed out of Q1, speaking to media, including RacingNews365, Tsunoda said: “I heard about it.

“To be honest, I guess it’s not just about me, if I heard correctly. They’re going everywhere, to be honest. They’re going for Jack [Doohan], and he didn’t do anything wrong, and they’re going for it. So that’s a bit unnecessary.”

Explaining what unfolded with Colapinto on track in FP1, Tsunoda added: “It’s normal that if you have traffic, and I caught it multiple times, you get frustrated.

“I think I have the right to say something. I didn’t say the wrong thing, or a very bad thing. I just said [expressed] my frustration, and that’s it.

“I know they are supporting their own country’s driver, but there’s always a line [crossed] that they say something, I guess. And I’m saying this because it’s not [just] to me, but they say things to Doohan

“It’s good that they have energy, but control it. I feel like they can use the energy in the right way, a better way.”

Should it continue, Tsunoda has called on F1 to take action.

“If it continues and it gets worse and worse, then at some point F1 should say something,” he said.