Red Bull Racing has issued an apology to Kimi Antonelli after the rookie received death threats and a torrent of online abuse following suggestions from Red Bull staff that he intentionally let Lando Norris pass him at the Qatar Grand Prix.
The crucial blunder by Antonelli on the penultimate lap in Qatar, which could decide the championship for Norris, immediately sparked claims from Red Bull that the mistake was intentional interference in the title fight.
Running fourth and chasing Williams driver Carlos Sainz for the final podium spot on Monday morning (AEST), Antonelli made an error at Turn 9 that saw him lose control of his Mercedes as he swept around Turn 10.
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The Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli leads the McLaren of Lando Norris in the last stages of the Qatar Grand Prix. Clive Mason via Getty Images
Running wide, Norris passed for fourth place heading into the final lap — a position that could prove decisive in the title battle.
Speaking in commentary for Sky Sports F1, David Croft said: “Antonelli gifting an opportunity to Lando Norris there”.
Norris looked set to finish fifth behind Antonelli after a botched strategy call left him out of podium contention.
The move up in placings netted Norris an additional two points, crucial in his effort to ward off championship contenders Oscar Piastri and Red Bull rival Max Verstappen.
Although Norris still finished fourth, the two-point swing was vital: the increase in the gap to Verstappen means the championship now favours Norris for next weekend’s Abu Dhabi finale.
With Norris’ lead over Verstappen now standing at 12 points, up from 10, he can win the championship with a third-place finish in Abu Dhabi, a scenario previously requiring second.
The surprising error from Antonelli immediately drew criticism from Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko and Verstappen’s race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase.
Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli. Kym Illman via Getty Images
On the team radio post-race, Lambiase suggested to Verstappen that Antonelli had “pulled over and let Norris through”, a view Marko later claimed was “obvious”.
“It was twice where he more or less waved Lando by. It was so obvious,” Marko told Motorsport.com.
“Antonelli now helps our main competitor, in Austria, he was crashing [Verstappen] in the rear.”
Marko also accused Antonelli of interfering in the title fight when he collided with Verstappen on the opening lap of the Austrian Grand Prix in June.
The 19-year-old has since been targeted by online abuse, leading him to black out his profile picture on Instagram.
According to Mercedes, the team has identified more than “1,100 severe or suspect” comments — including “several death threats” — on Antonelli’s personal social media. This is an increase of 1100 per cent compared to a normal post-race activity.
The team also found another 330 “severe or suspect” comments targeting their own social media channels.
The team have reported the incidents to the FIA’s united against online abuse campaign, with the governing body publicly condemning the abuse in its own statement.
After the race, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff labelled Marko’s comments as “brainless” and “total utter nonsense”. Wolff added that he had confronted Lambiase, who subsequently apologised.
Red Bull has since issued a statement publicly admitting the team’s initial assessment was wrong and apologising for contributing to the online abuse.
“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 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.”
Marko also issued an apology through German publication F1-Insider.
Helmut Marko has retracted his claim that Kimi Antonelli intentionally aided Lando Norris. Zak Mauger via LAT Images
Speaking after the race, Antonelli attributed the mistake to losing control of his car while pushing hard for the podium.
“With the hard [tyre] I was pushing quite a lot, and eventually I was getting to DRS [behind Sainz],” he said.
“But in [Turn 9] I had a massive moment and almost crashed, so then I went off track and lost the place to Lando, which was very annoying.”
Asked whether the error stemmed from his own driving or a car issue, the Italian teenager was noncommittal.
“I need to check,” he said.
“I went in a bit quicker than the lap before. Obviously, with dirty air, the car is more unpredictable because you have less downforce, and the tyres overheat more, but I went in a bit quicker and just lost the rear all of a sudden.
“I didn’t expect it, and obviously, at such a high speed, I went off track, and then the next corner, picking up all the dirt, I had a massive moment again and went off track again, so I just need to look into detail, but it was pretty annoying.”
Antonelli added that he otherwise would have “comfortably” kept Norris behind, citing that “in dirty air, he couldn’t get past.”
However, he conceded he likely had no real shot at the podium.
“We were gaining quite a lot on Carlos, and we were quite a bit stronger in the last sector, so definitely with two laps to go we would have had DRS in that lap, and then probably would have had a shot in the last lap, but at the end it didn’t happen because I went off track and just didn’t have the chance.”