Red Bull finger point at Kimi Antonelli fuels 'conspiracy' theory
Red Bull were not impressed with Kimi Antonelli's late error in Qatar.
Max Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase appeared to suggest that Kimi Antonelli “let” Lando Norris through in the closing stages of the Qatar Grand Prix.
Red Bull’s four-time world champion Verstappen took advantage of a McLaren strategy blunder to claim a surprise victory in Qatar and set up a three-way championship showdown heading into the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix next weekend.
Verstappen has cut championship leader Lando Norris’s advantage down to 12 points heading into the finale after the McLaren driver could only finish fourth.
However, Verstappen was looking at going into the final round with only a 10-point deficit until a late error from Mercedes’ Antonelli allowed Norris to snatch fourth place and two extra points.
“Not sure what happened to Antonelli Max, looks like he just pulled over and let Norris through,” Lambiase informed Verstappen in a team radio exchange that was broadcast on the live feed during the closing stages of Sunday’s race.
“Conspiracy theory there from GP, obviously engine providers are Mercedes for McLaren,” Sky Sports F1 presenter Simon Lazenby said.
Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko went even further and accused Antonelli of deliberately letting Norris past.
"He let him pass," Marko told Sky DE. “It was too flashy."
Antonelli explains costly ‘mistake’
Antonelli put the error down to him simply taking too much speed into Turn 9 in his duel bid to keep Norris behind while pursuing Carlos Sainz’s Williams in third place.
The 19-year-old Italian would have leapfrogged Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, who he replaced at Mercedes, in the drivers’ championship had he gone on to finish fourth.
“It was pretty frustrating to end up with a P5,” Antonelli told Sky Sports F1.
“At the end with the hard I was pushing quite a lot to get close to him [Carlos Sainz]. I was very close to DRS but then into Turn 9 I went a bit quicker and just had a massive moment.
“It was a bit unexpected. I just lost the rear and went off track. Just need to look at why the mistake arrived and what I did different. I went a bit quicker but it was not massively different but just lost the rear.
“It was a shame to lose the place because it would have been two more points but now we focus on to Abu Dhabi.”
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