Red Bull has issued a statement saying it “deeply regrets” the abuse Kimi Antonelli received following comments about his driving during the Qatar Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen’s race engineer Giampiero Lambiase told the drivers over team radio that Antonelli “looks like he pulled over and let[Lando]Norris pass” on the penultimate lap of the race, when the rookie made a mistake that sent him wide. After the checkered flag, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko referred to Oscar Piastri’s actions in Turn 1 earlier in the race and added his belief that Antonelli had twice allowed the McLaren driver to overtake him.
Antonelli blacked out his Instagram profile picture after receiving a large number of abusive comments on his account.
“Any comments made before and immediately after the conclusion of the Qatar Grand Prix suggesting that Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli intentionally allowed Lando Norris to overtake him are clearly false,” the statement read.
“Replay footage shows Antonelli briefly losing control of his car and being overtaken by Norris. We sincerely regret that this has led to Kimi being subjected to online abuse.”
Prior to Red Bull’s statement, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff criticized Marko and Lambiase’s commentsLambius explained that he had not seen the full replay of what caused Norris to catch Antonelli and apologized.
Norris overtook the Mercedes driver for fourth place on the penultimate lap, earning him a further two points and leaving him with a 12-point advantage over Verstappen in the race for the drivers’ championship ahead of the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi.
