Helmut Marko has alleged that Kimi Antonelli deliberately allowed Lando Norris to overtake him in the final laps of the Qatar Grand Prix. Antonelli had been running fourth after Norris made his second stop on lap 44 of the 57-lap race and held the McLaren at bay until lap 56 when he slipped up at turn nine.
The error forced him into a tighter line for turn ten where he ran wide which opened the door for Norris to take fourth. The move secured two extra points for the McLaren driver at a key moment in the title fight as Max Verstappen went on to win.
Norris now holds a 12-point advantage over Verstappen rather than the 10-point lead he would have kept with a fifth place. He sits on 408 points with Verstappen on 396 and Oscar Piastri also close behind on 392. Reflecting on the decisive moment Marko argued the mistake looked intentional.
«He let him past,» Marko told Sky DE. «It was too obvious.»
Verstappen’s engineer Gianpiero Lambiase had similar doubts and told the race winner on the radio that Antonelli «looked like he just pulled over and let Norris through.»
Marko also praised Verstappen for his 70th career victory. He said Red Bull’s choice to stop under the safety car had been vital and that Verstappen then judged his pace perfectly to prevent Piastri from closing in. He added that McLaren’s decision not to pit had surprised Red Bull but ultimately helped secure the win.
Footage of the incident showed Antonelli lose control at the exit of turn nine on the penultimate lap before suffering another snap of oversteer leaving turn ten which pushed him off the track. Norris who had been applying pressure for several laps pounced immediately.
Lambiase repeated his doubts after the race saying it appeared Antonelli «just pulled over.» There was nothing in the Mercedes radio messages to suggest any instruction to help Norris and Mercedes would not be expected to assist a rival team.
Kimi’s reaction
Antonelli reacted with frustration over the radio. He cut himself off mid-sentence after beginning to express his anger before race engineer Peter Bonnington stepped in. After finishing behind Norris Antonelli said he «could not believe it.»
Bonnington told him it looked like the rear tyres had simply broken traction.
Speaking after the race Antonelli said the incident capped a «pretty frustrating» outing. He explained that a long delay in the pit box had cost him several positions and that running in Carlos Sainz’s dirty air had left him struggling for pace.
With two laps remaining he entered turn nine too quickly lost the rear and slid off. He accepted full responsibility saying it was a mistake he needed to move past.
Wolff blasts Lambiase over accusation
Toto Wolff later called Lambiase «brainless» for suggesting that Antonelli had intentionally yielded to Norris. Although the Red Bull engineer apologised afterwards Wolff remained deeply unimpressed.
«This is complete nonsense,» Wolff said. «We are fighting for P2 in the Constructors’ Championship which matters to us. Kimi was fighting for a possible P3. How can anyone say something like that?»
Wolff admitted he was already irritated by Mercedes’ performance and Antonelli’s late error and said the accusation only added to his frustration. He spoke to Lambiase after the race and said the engineer explained he had not seen the full incident and had simply reacted emotionally in the moment.
According to Wolff Lambiase apologised and accepted that the social media reaction had been triggered by his comments.
Online reaction turns on Antonelli
Some fans rushed to social media blaming Antonelli for «letting Norris through» before many later acknowledged that footage showed a clear rookie mistake. In the aftermath the young driver changed his Instagram profile picture to a plain black image instead of his usual photo.
