Red Bull has issued a statement saying it “sincerely regrets” the abuse Kimi Antonelli has received following comments made about his driving during the Qatar Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase told his driver over team radio that Antonelli “looks like he just pulled over and let [Lando] Norris through” on the penultimate lap of the race, when the rookie made a mistake and ran wide. Following the checkered flag, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko added his own belief that Antonelli had twice allowed McLaren drivers to pass, referring to Oscar Piastri’s move at Turn 1 earlier in the race.
Antonelli turned his Instagram profile picture black after his account received a number of abusive comments.
“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 statement read.
“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.”
Prior to the Red Bull statement, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff had criticized both Marko and Lambiase for their comments, and Lambiase issued an apology explaining he not seen the full replay of what led to Norris getting by Antonelli.
Norris gained a further two points as a result of passing the Mercedes driver for fourth place on the penultimate lap, leaving him with a 12-point advantage over Verstappen in the fight for the drivers’ championship heading into the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi.
