Toto Wolff has described Max Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase as “brainless” after he suggested that Kimi Antonelli intentionally allowed Lando Norris to pass him in the closing stages of the Qatar Grand Prix.
Championship leader Norris appeared to have come up short in his attempts to pass Antonelli before the Mercedes driver ran wide at Turn 10 on the penultimate lap, enabling the McLaren to snatch fourth place and two crucial extra points.
The pass means Norris takes a 12 – rather than 10 – point lead over Verstappen into the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi next weekend, with the Brit’s team-mate Oscar Piastri also still in contention four points further back in third.
Clearly frustrated that race winner Verstappen’s points gain on Norris had been reduced, Lambiase told the Dutchman over Red Bull’s radio that it looked like Antonelli had “just pulled over and let Norris through.”
While Wolff would go on to reveal that Lambiase had apologised for the radio remarks, the Silver Arrows boss was still highly critical of Verstappen’s trusted colleague.
“This is total utter nonsense. That blows my mind even to hear that,” Wolff said after the race.
“We are fighting for P2 in the (Constructors’) Championship, which is important for us. Kimi is fighting for a potential P3 (race finish).
“How brainless can you be to even say something like this? It annoys me because I’m annoyed with the race itself, how it went.
“I’m annoyed with the mistake at the end. I’m annoyed with other mistakes, and then hearing such nonsense blows my mind.”
Wolff reveals Lambiase apology
Wolff revealed that he had confronted Lambiase over his comments after the race, and that the long-time Red Bull figure had offered an apology.
“I spoke to GP (Lambiase). I saw him, and obviously he was emotional in that moment, because they needed a P3, I guess, to help win the championship, now they need more.
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Red Bull’s Max Verstappen believes McLaren’s decision not to pit under the safety car played a pivotal role in him winning the Qatar GP
“I said to him, ‘he just went off’. He had a bit of a moment in the previous corner, and then had less entry speed into that left-hander, put the gas down, and at that moment, that can happen, then lost the position. So with GP, everything is clear. We cleared the air.
“He said ‘he didn’t see the situation’.
“I said to GP that there’s quite a social media storm. He said, ‘sorry if I caused that, I didn’t see the incident’.”
Antonelli explains ‘unexpected’ mistake
Antonelli said he was frustrated after the “massive moment” had allowed Norris to pass him in the closing stages.
The Italian teenager had been chasing down Carlos Sainz for the final podium spot when he made a mistake in Turn 9, which then resulted in him running wide at the next corner.
Antonelli told Sky Sports F1: “Pretty frustrating to end up fifth considering the podium was so close.
Antonelli was passed by Norris on the penultimate lap
“We lost a lot of time behind Carlos. It was really hard with the dirty air and just the tyres were overheating a lot.
“With the hard (tyre), I was pushing quite a lot to get close to Carlos. Eventually I was in DRS, or very close, but into Turn 9 I went in a bit quicker and had a massive moment.
“A bit unexpected but just lost the rear and went off track. Just need to look why the mistake arrived and what I did different.
“I went in quicker but not massively different. A shame to lose the place because it would have been two more points.”
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com
