Red Bull has issued a statement saying it “regrets” online abuse levelled at Kimi Antonelli following the Qatar Grand Prix after two of its team members suggested the Mercedes driver let Lando Norris overtake him towards the end of the race.
Norris took advantage of a mistake by Antonelli on the penultimate lap to pass the Mercedes driver for fourth place and secure two extra championship points in his title battle with Max Verstappen.
The difference in finishing fourth instead of fifth means Norris will now be guaranteed the championship if secures third place in Abu Dhabi, whereas a fifth-place finish meant he would have needed to secure second place.
After Verstappen won Sunday’s race in Qatar, his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase hinted Antonelli had moved over to aid Norris’ title bid.
“I am not sure what happened to Antonelli there,” Lambiase said over team radio. “It looked like he just pulled over and let Lando through.”
Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko later told reporters it was “so obvious” that Norris was “waved” through by Antonelli.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff called Marko’s comments “brainless” and said he had already met with Lambiase in the paddock and “cleared the air.”
Antonelli turned his Instagram profile image to a blank black picture following the abuse.
– Qatar GP: Stella says McLaren will learn from strategy mistakes
– Wolff furious with ‘brainless’ claim Antonelli moved for Norris
– Max Verstappen responds to McLaren’s Zak Brown: ‘Call me Chucky’
On Monday, Red Bull issued a statement clarifying that the team accepted Antonelli had made a mistake and did not “allow” Norris to pass.
“Comments made before the end of and immediately after the Qatar GP suggesting that Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli had deliberately allowed Lando Norris to overtake him are clearly incorrect,” the team statement said.
“Replay footage shows Antonelli momentarily losing control of his car, thus allowing Norris to pass him.
“We sincerely regret that this has led to Kimi receiving online abuse.”
Verstappen heads to this weekend’s final round in Abu Dhabi with a 12-point gap to Norris in the standings, while Oscar Piastri is 16 points behind his McLaren teammate.
