Red Bull voices regret that Cammy Antonelli allowed Lando Norris to pass him

MILTON KEYNES, England – Red Bull expressed regret on Monday after “clearly inaccurate” comments it alleged that Mercedes’ Cammy Antonelli let Lando Norris pass at the Qatar Grand Prix affected the Formula 1 title fight.

Standings leader Norris was fifth behind Antonelli at the end of Sunday’s race when the Italian slid wide and Norris relegated him to fourth place. That allowed the McLaren driver a 12-point lead over Red Bull’s Max Verstappen ahead of this week’s season finale in Abu Dhabi.

Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiro Lambias advised the four-time Dutch champion on radio that it appeared Antonelli had let him pass Norris, and Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko claimed Antonelli had “moved him” in comments to Sky Sports Germany.

“Comments were made before and immediately after the end of the Qatar PPG that Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli had deliberately allowed Lando Norris to overtake him,” Red Bull posted on social media on Monday.

“Replay footage shows Antonelli momentarily losing control of his car, thus allowing Norris to pass him. We sincerely regret that this has caused Kimi to receive abuse online.”

Antonelli was defended by Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, who said it was “hard to understand” the claim that the Italian rookie would give up a place, especially when he still had the chance to catch Carlos Sainz, Jr. for third.

“I was pushing hard to stay ahead of Norris in the closing stages and unfortunately just pushed a bit too hard. I went out of shape through nine turns and then there was a big picture of oversteer,” Antonelli said.

“I was lucky to save the car but sadly gave up the McLaren position. It was a disappointing and disappointing way to finish what had been a good race up to that point.”