Red Bull has issued a statement saying it “sincerely regrets” the abuse Kimi Antonelli received following comments about his driving style during the Qatar Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen’s racing engineer Gianpiero Lambiase told his driver over team radio that Antonelli “looks like he just stopped and left it.” [Lando] Norris went ahead” on the penultimate lap of the race, when a rookie error had him running wide. After the checkered flag, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko added his own belief that Antonelli had twice let McLaren drivers pass, after Oscar Piastri had entered Turn 1 earlier in the race.
Antonelli blacked out his Instagram profile picture after his account received a number of offensive comments, with Red Bull issuing a statement on the matter.
“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 false,” the statement said.
“Replay footage shows Antonelli temporarily losing control of his car, allowing Norris to pass him. We sincerely regret that this has led to Kimi being abused online.”
Prior to Red Bull’s statement, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff had criticized both Marko and Lambiase for their commentswith Lambiase apologizing for not seeing the full replay of what led to Norris passing Antonelli.
Norris gained a further two points as he passed the Mercedes driver on the penultimate lap for fourth place, giving him a 12-point lead over Verstappen in the battle for the Drivers’ Championship heading into the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi.
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