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Shocking details have emerged about 1000+ abusive messages directed towards Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli following Helmut Marko's accusation that the rookie let Lando Norris pass him in the final stages of the Qatar Grand Prix. Antonelli has chosen to bring attention to this matter by blacking out his profile picture on Instagram.
After the Qatar GP, Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko made harsh comments directed towards Kimi Antonelli, claiming that the Italian let Lando Norris by in the final stages of the race on purpose. This came after Norris overtook Antonelli on the penultimate lap to claim P4 after a mistake from the latter.
"It was twice where he more or less waved Lando by. It was so obvious. Antonelli now helps our main competitor, in Austria he was crashing [Verstappen] in the rear," said Marko [via Motorsport.com].
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These comments have led to Kimi Antonelli receiving heaps of criticism and abuse online since the end of the race on Sunday. The 19-year-old has blacked out his Instagram profile picture to bring attention to this.
Now, The Race has reported that over 1100 "severe or suspect comments" were flagged by Mercedes' community management tools on Antonelli's social media, representing a 1100% increase compared to regular post-race comments.
There were also more than 330 similar comments directed towards the driver on Mercedes' accounts. The details of these messages are shocking as they reportedly included death threats and homophobic slurs, aside from other insults.
Antonelli did a stellar job in the final stages of the Qatar GP, keeping a quicker Lando Norris behind him as he aimed to secure a P4 finish. But on Lap 56/57, the 19-year-old made a mistake and lost control of his car, meaning Norris was able to overtake him and finish fourth instead. This meant that Norris was able to gain an extra two points in his battle for the drivers' title against Max Verstappen.
Helmut Marko issues apology to Kimi Antonelli following online abuse
Red Bull's Helmut Marko has made an official apology to Kimi Antonelli following the online abuse he received after the Qatar GP. The 82-year-old said that upon reviewing the footage, he realized Antonelli had made an error and did not intentionally prevent Norris from passing.
Marko mentioned that he was sorry upon seeing Antonelli receiving abuse online after his comments, as he said [via F1-insider]:
"I took another close look at the footage. The first time, Antonelli could have held his ground a little better [as Oscar Piastri passed him into Turn 1]. The second time, it was a driving error and not intentional. I'm sorry that Antonelli got so much flak online. To clarify once again: he didn't let Norris pass on purpose."
Max Verstappen's race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, also made a passing comment after the Qatar GP, saying that it looked like Antonelli just moved out of the way to let Norris pass. Red Bull has also issued a statement online expressing regret over these comments, which has led to hate towards Antonelli.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff explained that he cleared the air with Lambiase after the race, while the Austrian branded Marko's words as nonsensical and "brainless".
