{"id":327462,"date":"2025-12-04T15:57:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T15:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/327462\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T15:57:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T15:57:10","slug":"i-was-accused-of-something-i-would-never-do-says-antonelli-after-death-threats-%c2%b7-racefans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/327462\/","title":{"rendered":"I was accused of something I would never do, says Antonelli after death threats \u00b7 RaceFans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andrea Kimi Antonelli<\/a> says he was grateful for the support he received from rival drivers after receiving abuse and death threats on social media after the Qatar Grand Prix.<\/p>\n

Red Bull issued a statement the day after the race defending Antonelli after two of its team members alleged he had allowed Lando Norris<\/a> to overtake him during the race. Both have since retracted the claim.<\/p>\n

Antonelli said one of them, Max Verstappen\u2019s<\/a> race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, was among those who reached out to him after the race. Verstappen and Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies also contacted him.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor sure it was a tough hit,\u201d Antonelli told the official Formula 1 channel. \u201cBut at the end of the day on the other hand I got a lot of support from drivers and from Max, Lando, a lot of drivers showed a lot of support. Also, Red Bull, Laurent texted me, I also talked with GP [Lambiase]. So definitely I\u2019ve had a lot of support which is nice to see.<\/p>\n

The Mercedes driver briefly removed his image from his social media presences in response to the abuse he received.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously [there was] a lot of insults, even some death threats as well, which is really bad,\u201d he said. \u201cObviously it was very tough, mainly because I was being accused for something that I would never do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Antonelli was running fourth ahead of Norris when he made a mistake at turn 10 on the penultimate lap and went off, which allowed the McLaren driver to overtake. Footage of the incident was not immediately shown on the world feed but Formula One Management broadcast a radio message in which Lambiase told Verstappen: \u201cNot sure what happened to Antonelli, Max, looks like he just pulled over and let Norris through.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Mercedes driver said he would not give up a position to a rival \u201cespecially to someone who is fighting for the championship\u201d like Norris. \u201cThere are three drivers for fighting for the championship and I would never do anything that could favour someone over the other,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would never do something to damage Max or I will never do something to damage Lando or Oscar [Piastri]. At the end of the day I\u2019m racing for myself and I\u2019m racing to achieve the best result possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo to be accused of that, obviously it hurt. But at the end of the day I obviously got a lot of support from the team, from the people I trust and also from the drivers. It was nice and it really helped [me] to forget what happened and focus on this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Antonelli said he is glad the FIA and F1 are taking steps to address the abuse drivers receive on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know F1 is working hard on this, but it\u2019s not [just] because it happened to me, this happens quite often to other drivers as well and we just need to make sure that it doesn\u2019t happen as often anymore. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not nice to see. At the end of the day, we\u2019re athletes that compete [with] the best and we try to do our best when we go on track. We\u2019re driving for ourselves and for our careers and for our teams. So there\u2019s no reason why in my case I would do anything like that. It\u2019s also not in my DNA. I was fighting for a podium so I was going for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Antonelli\u2019s team mate George Russell<\/a>, who is a director of the Grand Prix Drivers Association, said \u201cit\u2019s pretty unacceptable what happened, and what was written, and the abuse online.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously it all started with a mistake from the Red Bull guys, and of course, they apologised, and that\u2019s okay. People make mistakes, especially when you don\u2019t have the full facts.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think those thousands of people behind their keyboards have no excuse and really need to take a hard look at themselves in the mirror and think why that is acceptable \u2013 not just for F1, but just society altogether. I just struggle to comprehend it, really. So that\u2019s all I can say.\u201d<\/p>\n

Isack Hadjar<\/a>, who drives for Red Bull\u2019s second team Racing Bulls, said the abuse Antonelli suffered was \u201cunfair \u2013 especially when you\u2019re giving your absolute maximum during your race to bring it home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think [he] was fourth, you make a mistake and then there are all these things said about you online. I think it\u2019s just very unfair because you give your absolute maximum, and then it seems like you did this mistake on purpose, which I think is not very nice.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople behind their keyboards, like George said, are just idiots. They all know nothing about racing \u2013 never drove ever in their life \u2013 so that\u2019s the only reason why they comment.\u201d<\/p>\n

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2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
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