“Please Report”: F1 Presenter Laura Winter Asks for Fan Support to Take Down Fake Account

Laura Winter on the grid before the Sprint Race of the Formula 1 Pirelli United States Grand Prix on October 19, 2024, at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas

As F1’s popularity continues to increase around the world, all the stakeholders of the sport also receive more attention. And while there are several perks that come with increased fame, there are also some downsides. F1TV presenter Laura Winter learned this the hard way recently when a random stranger impersonated her.

In the social media age, it gets very hard to sort out suspicious accounts from legitimate ones. Winter, who is renowned in the world of motorsport, had someone cook up an Instagram account in her name to dupe fans into believing it was actually her.

But she took prompt action by reporting the impersonator and urged her fans to do the same. “Not me. Please report. Thank you. It’s truly so strange people do this,” she wrote in her stories.

This instance would be easy for the fans to single out and notice as the account looks like a fake at first glance itself. There are no posts made by the impersonator and the account only has three followers.

Moreover, the moderators over at Instagram don’t take such violations lightly. So, Winter can be rest assured that the concerned team will be taking prompt action against the account and getting it off the platform. That said, this isn’t the first time a high-profile name attached to the sport has found impersonators with dubious intentions.

When Nicolas Hamilton was targeted by a TikTok fraudster

Incidents of people trying to impersonate famous celebrities and influencers are a very common occurrence on social media platforms. Earlier this year, Lewis Hamilton’s brother was also caught in this vicious web on the content-creation platform, TikTok.

An impersonator had used Nicolas’ picture and name to dupe fans. The account was accused of “talking to people about their disabilities and asking them for money for a meet and greet“. Once Nicolas noticed this, he took prompt action.

He reported to his fans, “So sorry for the harm this account has caused, it’s not me.” Thankfully, the account was taken down almost instantly and was banned by TikTok. “Great job team, love you all,” he wrote in a story to thank his fans.

Post Edited By: Vidit Dhawan
Laura Winter

About the author

Anirban Aly Mandal

Anirban Aly Mandal is an F1 writer at The SportsRush, with over 1000 articles under his belt, Anirban's love for F1 started when he discovered a copy of F1 2014 on his computer. With over half a decade's worth of time spent religiously following the sport, he’s dived deep into the world of motorsports. However, Anirban's expertise goes beyond just writing - he has also written several academic papers focused on the domain of motorsports and the law. His passion for the sport is so immense that he aspires to work as a legal advisor in the most prestigious racing series in the world someday. When it comes to Formula 1, Anirban finds great pleasure in re-watching classic races and idolizes the likes of Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, and Sebastian Vettel. His top picks include Brazil '91, Silverstone '92, and Germany '19. Outside of the sport, Anirban is an avid sim racer, often found racing on titles like Assetto Corsa, F1 22, and Automobilista. Apart from his interests in gaming, Anirban has a keen interest in philosophy, literature and music.

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