Dark twist, death threats over ugly Verstappen accusation
F1 figures have expressed outrage at explosive accusations made by a Red Bull official following an incident at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli has received a series of death threats after ugly accusations made by Red Bull officials following the Qatar Grand Prix.
Red Bull on Tuesday made a public apology after two of Max Verstappen’s biggest supporters suggested the Mercedes driver deliberately let championship-leader Lando Norris pass him on the penultimate lap of Monday morning’s race.
Red Bull has now called those officials into line after public suggestions Antonelli allowed Norris to sneak past into fourth position because Mercedes would rather McLaren driver Norris win the title instead of bitter rival Red Bull.
McLaren has run with Mercedes engines since 2021.
Norris was able to keep a 12-point lead on Verstappen because fourth-placed finishers receive 12 competition points. Antonelli received 10 points for finishing fifth.
Red Bull officials were not the only F1 commentators to raise their eyebrows when Antonelli ran wide on a corner on the penultimate lap allowing Norris to zoom through without a fight.
“Not sure what happened to Antonelli Max, looks like he just pulled over and let Norris through,” Gianpiero ‘GP’ Lambiase, Verstappen’s race engineer, immediately told his driver in a radio message which television viewers also heard.
Red Bull adviser, Helmut Marko, said later that the 19-year-old “waved” Norris past.
“He let him pass. It was too flashy,” Marko told Sky DE.
Those comments caused immediate anger within the Mercedes garage and across the F1 paddock.
On Monday night, Antonelli’s profile picture on his Instagram account was blacked out. Mercedes said comments attacking Antonelli on his various social media accounts had shown a “1,100 per cent increase in the abuse we sadly usually see on a Sunday of a race weekend”.
British media reported that the team said several of the comments “were death threats” and that it had flagged 330 more “severe or suspect” comments on team social media.
Red Bull issued a statement acknowledging that “replay footage shows Antonelli momentarily losing control of his car, thus allowing Norris to pass him.
“We sincerely regret that this has led to Antonelli receiving online abuse,” the team said.
Mercedes said Lambiase had apologised to team principal Toto Wolff.
“I spoke to GP,” said Wolff.
“I saw him and obviously he was emotional in that moment.
“He said he didn’t see the situation.”
Wolff described Marko’s comments as “brainless”.
“We are fighting for P2 in the [Constructors’] Championship, which is important for us. Kimi is fighting for a potential P3 [race finish],” said Wolff.
“How brainless can you be to even say something like this? It annoys me because I’m annoyed with the race itself, how it went.
“I’m annoyed with the mistake at the end. I’m annoyed with other mistakes, and then hearing such nonsense blows my mind.”
He went on to say: “Why would we do this? Why would we even think about interfering in a driver championship?
“You really need to check yourself and whether you are seeing ghosts.”
Marko has also made a public apology.
Marko told F1 Insider: “I’ve looked at the footage again very carefully.
“The first time, Antonelli could have put up a bit more of a fight [referring to his battle with Oscar Piastri].
“The second time, it was a driving error and not intentional.
“I’m sorry that Antonelli got so much criticism online. To make it perfectly clear: He didn’t let Norris past intentionally.”
The FIA, Formula 1’s governing body, has also released a statement.
“The FIA, and its United Against Online Abuse campaign, condemns abuse and harassment in any form,” the FIA said.
“It remains absolutely critical that everyone operating within our sport can do so in a safe and respectful environment.
“We stand in support of Kimi Antonelli and urge the wider community, online and offline, to treat drivers, teams, officials and the whole sporting ecosystem with the respect and compassion that they deserve.”
Verstappen won the race ahead of Oscar Piastri with Williams’ Carlos Sainz finishing third and Norris fourth.
As a result, Norris heads to the season-ending showdown in the desert at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on 408 points ahead of Verstappen On 396 and Piastri on 392.
Norris can clinch the title by claiming his 18th podium finish of the season while Verstappen needs to win with the Britonoff the podium if he is to snatch it from his grasp.
— with AFP
Originally published as Dark twist, death threats over ugly Verstappen accusation
‘Alarming’ sign Oscar Piastri is finished
