The Red Bull team Voices Remorse Regarding Remarks Following Online Abuse Targeting Mercedes Star Kimi Antonelli
The Red Bull Formula 1 team has released a comment expressing its sincere regret for post-race remarks that preceded a torrent of social media vitriol, including death threats, directed at Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli.
Antonelli was said to have changed his social media picture to a blank image on Monday, a reaction to the hurtful messages that appeared on his accounts. His team confirmed that a number of these communications constituted direct threats against the youngster's life.
The situation stems from team radio during the closing stages of the Qatar Grand Prix. Max Verstappen's race engineer suggested over the air that it "appeared as if" Antonelli had "deliberately moved aside" to allow rival driver Lando Norris to pass.
This incident proved crucial for the championship battle, as the overtake earned him two additional points. This extended the Briton's points advantage over Verstappen to a dozen points ahead of the final race in Abu Dhabi.
In its statement, Red Bull asserted: "Comments made suggesting that Kimi Antonelli had deliberately allowed Lando Norris to overtake are clearly incorrect. Video evidence shows Antonelli briefly losing control of his car, thereby allowing Norris to pass him. We sincerely regret that this has led to Kimi being subjected to online abuse."
The team's statement did not include a formal apology for the original claim. However, reports indicate that Lambiase later apologised to Toto Wolff after being shown video evidence of the incident.
"This is total, utter nonsense. That astounds me even to hear that," stated Wolff. "We are fighting for P2 in the team standings... How foolish can you be to even say something like this?"
Wolff added that he had cleared the air with Lambiase, who claimed he did not witness the moment when he made the comment. Mercedes reported a "massive surge" in abusive messages targeting Antonelli following the race.
For his part, Antonelli described the racing incident as a error. He said he was pushing hard to close on the Williams ahead and had a "massive moment" that caused him to run wide and surrender fourth place.
"It was really hard with the dirty air and the tyres were overheating," Antonelli remarked. "A shame to lose the place because it would have been two more points."
Main Takeaways from the Situation
- Red Bull has expressed regret for radio remarks made by a staff member.
- Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli received death threats in the wake of those comments.
- The controversial remark involved an overtaking move that affected the championship standings.
- Video evidence show Antonelli lost control, contradicting the suggestion of deliberate action.
- The engineer involved has apologised to Mercedes management.
