The title fight in the Formula 1 World Championship started on Sunday after the Red Bull star Max Verstappen After winning the Grand Prix of Qatar, a lot of dust was raised on a secondary front. World Cup leader Lando Norris The McLaren managed to limit the damage for the World Cup final by overtaking the Mercedes driver late Kimi Antonelliwhat Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko angry. The Styrian said that Norris had been “waved past”. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff responded angrily.
“How can you be so brainless to say something like that,” said the Viennese after Antonelli finished fifth behind Norris in Doha. “We are fighting for second place in the constructors’ championship and Kimi still had the opportunity to finish third in the race,” added Wolff. Before the season finale on Sunday in Abu Dhabi, Mercedes is second in the team standings, 33 points ahead of Red Bull, and a racing team in the Emirates can only get a maximum of 43 points. “Then why should we do something like that and influence the Drivers’ World Championship?”
Death threats against Antonelli via social media
Antonelli explained that while chasing the Spanish Williams driver Carlos Sainz, who ultimately finished third, he made a driving mistake under pressure from Norris and almost caused an accident, allowing him to overtake the Briton. The Italian had long been exposed to attacks against himself on social media. This is probably what finally made Red Bull give in on Monday. Marko’s comments were incorrect. “The images show that Kimi briefly lost control of his car. We regret that he was attacked online,” it said.
A report from the portal racingnews365.com According to Mercedes, Mercedes wants to hand over the matter to the International Automobile Federation as part of the FIA’s “Unite against Online Abuse” campaign. According to the team, more than 1,100 serious or suspicious comments marked in Antonelli’s social media accounts by the racing team’s community management tools. Also Death threats were among the comments. The 19-year-old Antonelli’s Instagram profile picture initially remained black on Monday.
Helmut Marko: “I’m sorry”
Finally, the next day Marko also rowed back: “I’m sorry that Antonelli got into so much trouble online. To make it clear again: He didn’t let Norris pass on purpose,” said the 82-year-old from the portal f1-insider.com quoted. Norris now goes into the last race of the season with a twelve point lead over the Dutch defending champion Verstappen. His Australian McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri is 16 points behind. There are 25 points for victory.