Vinales responded to false reports in Spain that threatened to leave MotoGP after a potential pole lap in Portimao in Q2 was canceled due to a track boundary violation.
This resulted in Vinales starting in 12th place, while a bad start meant he struggled throughout the race to eventually finish 11th when Yamaha teammate Fabio Quartararo won the Grand Prix.
Following backlash from Twitter users to these reports, Vinales reacted angrily before closing his account, stating, “If someone wants to criticize me, they should delete me from their Twitter account, otherwise I will delete my account because I have no habit , to do it.”
Vinales explained his decision on the Thursday ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez, claiming his decision was motivated by how little he used the platform.
“Well, basically it’s an app that I don’t use too often,” he said. “So we finally decided to cancel. I’m more about Instagram and Tiktok, more about videos and roles.
“I like to do that and Twitter is sometimes more serious. So it wasn’t for the best, I didn’t write things on Twitter every day.
“So we decided to cancel and focus on Instagram and Tiktok.”
This isn’t the first incident in 2021 that forced a driver to avoid social media. Ducati’s Jack Miller admitted after a tough double header in Qatar that he’d opted out of his social platforms to avoid negative comments.
World sport is trying to force social media platforms to crack down on abusive account users, with English football leading a campaign to root out racial abuse against players.
Social media is a “necessary evil” – as Miller called it Thursday in Jerez – that professional athletes need to promote themselves and the brands they sponsor.
But of course it also has a personal benefit, where drivers can interact with fans in ways that were previously impossible.
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During the COVID-19 shutdown last year, numerous stars from Formula 1 were on the Twitch streaming platform – which brought a new level of fan engagement that ultimately strengthened the F1 fan base until 2021.
But social media also leaves drivers open to abuse from anyone.
Aleix Espargaro, who often receives abusive comments on Twitter – including from Jorge Lorenzo earlier this year – says criticism is only part of social media, but admits he is “angry” with the situation in Vinales.
“The only thing I can say about this hatred we see on social media is that people care about social media, not the drivers, like myself,” he said.
“We have to deal with the people who don’t like something about you in order to improve success and in life you have to accept that criticism.
“We see a lot of hatred and you don’t have to deal with it because in the end I know Maverick.
“He’s one of the best people I’ve ever met in my life, he’s a very, very good kid.
“So if it’s his job to ride MotoGP he tries to do it as well and as quickly as possible, but anyone in that job can have a bad day.
“It’s easy to stop following someone. But why does he have to put up with someone’s hatred when they finish a race in 12th or 2nd place? I’m very angry about that.”
Espargaro admitted that he is considering closing his account and believes that all athletes will do the same if things don’t change.
“I think it’s pretty difficult because we are all human, as you said,” he said when asked by Motorsport.com if MotoGP could do anything to protect riders from online abuse .
“I’ve had tough times in the past, it’s easy to comment when you are sitting on your sofa in front of your TV, when someone is having a bad race or bad moments that you badly comment on.
“But I imagine people are 40 or 50 years old, it may be their son doing that and you won’t like to see the bad comments.
“So first of all, I feel on my side, I don’t really look at the comments.
“But there will always be people who say bad things when things go bad, but maybe the same person will say something nice when you win.
“But I think the most important thing is not to look at the comments. It helps a lot.”