Red Bull apologizes as Kimi Antonelli receives death threats after Helmut Marko's controversial Qatar GP comments

Red Bull has issued an apology after Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli received death threats on social media after the Qatar Grand Prix. The unfortunate situation arose after Max Verstappen's race engineer and team director, Helmut Marko, claimed that Antonelli had deliberately let Lando Norris pass him on the final lap of the race.

Norris was stuck in P5 behind Antonelli after making his second pit stop on lap 43. The McLaren driver was eyeing a podium finish, despite McLaren's strategic botch-up earlier in the race. Despite being on fresher hard tires, he just couldn't pass the Mercedes driver.

Meanwhile, championship contender Max Verstappen was comfortably leading the race. If Lando Norris finished in P5, the points gap between them would reduce to 10 points heading into the season finale in Abu Dhabi. However, Kimi Antonelli had oversteer in Turn 10 on the final lap and went wide off the track, which allowed Lando Norris to secure P4.

Verstappen's engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, informed him via team radio that Antonelli seemed to intentionally give Norris P4, insinuating that the rookie helped the McLaren driver in the championship battle. Moreover, Helmut Marko made the same claim in a post-race interview, accusing Antonelli of helping Norris.

Consequently, the 18-year-old Italian driver received hate and death threats on social media, and he blacked out his profile picture. Red Bull issued an apology for Lambiase and Marko's comments in a statement on Monday.

"Comments made before the end of and immediately after the Qatar GP suggesting that Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli had deliberately allowed Lando Norris to overtake him are clearly incorrect. Replay footage shows Antonelli momentarily losing control of his car, thus allowing Norris to pass him. We sincerely regret that this has led to Kimi receiving online abuse," the team's statement read.

Because Lando Norris finished P4 instead of P5 at the Qatar GP after Kimi Antonelli's mistake, he leads the championship by 12 points over Max Verstappen instead of 10. With only one race remaining, those two points are very pivotal and could decide the course of the championship battle.

Toto Wolff hits back at Red Bull as Mercedes contacts FIA after Kimi Antonelli's dire online situation

Toto Wolff at the F1 Grand Prix Of Singapore - Source: Getty 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

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff hit back at Helmut Marko for claiming that Kimi Antonelli intentionally helped Lando Norris in the drivers' championship battle. Wolff also clarified that he had spoken with Max Verstappen's race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, after the race, and cleared the air about the situation.

Addressing Marko's comments, Wolff told Sky Sports:

"This is total utter nonsense. That blows my mind even to hear that. 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."

The Mercedes team boss also shed light on his post-race conversation with Lambiase and how the Red Bull engineer apologized for the stir caused on social media with Kimi Antonelli at the center of controversy.

"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. 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.'"

Reporter Erik Van Haren shared via a social media post that Mercedes had contacted the FIA, sharing the death threats that Kimi Antonelli had received.