Wolff blasts Red Bull: “Absurd” over Antonelli and Norris in F1

Toto Wolff lashes out at Red Bull over “senseless” accusations

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has expressed his fury at Red Bull’s “brainless” accusations, suggesting that Kimi Antonelli deliberately moved aside to help Lando Norris in his championship challenge. Norris, who saw his aspirations frustrated in the Qatar Grand Prix due to a strategic error by McLaren, finished in fourth position after Antonelli went off track on the penultimate lap. This incident allowed Norris to score two points, which secures him the third position in the Abu Dhabi final, surpassing Max Verstappen of Red Bull in the fight for the title. Verstappen won in Qatar, but his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, hinted at foul play when commenting on the radio: “I’m not sure what happened with Antonelli there. It looked like he just moved aside and let Lando through.”

Kimi Antonelli, running in fourth position, went off the track in the final stages of the race, opening the door for Lando Norris to take the position. Red Bull Motorsport advisor Helmut Marko stated that it was “obvious” that Antonelli “let” Lando pass. In response, Wolff stated: “This is complete and utter nonsense that amazes me.”

We are fighting for second place in the constructors’ championship, which is important for us. Kimi is fighting for a potential third place in the race. How brainless can you be to say something like that?

Toto Wolff

Wolff revealed that he looked for Lambiase after the race. “I spoke with GP. Obviously they were excited at that moment,” said Wolff. “I told him, ‘he [Antonelli] just went off. He had a little problem in the previous corner and then less entry speed in the left-hand corner. It can happen.’ With GP everything is clear. We cleared things up. He said he didn’t see the situation.” “But, why would we do this? Why would we even think about interfering in a drivers’ championship? You really need to examine yourself and see if you’re seeing ghosts.”