Wolff savages 'brainless' Red Bull chief after Antonelli conspiracy

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has hit out at 'utter nonsense' from a controversial figure at a rival F1 team.

Helmut Marko accused Kimi Antonelli of 'waving Lando [Norris] by' at the end of the Qatar Grand Prix, an overtake which could have serious implications for the championship battle.

If Antonelli had been able to hold up Norris for another couple of laps to the chequered flag, Max Verstappen would have been able to secure the title with a win in Abu Dhabi if the Brit finished anywhere lower than second – but now a third-place finish will guarantee that Verstappen loses his crown for the first time since the end of 2021.

It's not entirely clear what Marko believes Antonelli's motivations would have been for letting Norris pass him, but replays showed that the overtake actually came as the result of the teenager nearly losing control of the car with a massive snap of oversteer on corner entry.

Wolff: This nonsense blows my mind

Speaking to the media after the race, Wolff said: "Bless him, Helmut, this is total, utter nonsense.

"That blows my mind even to hear that. We’re fighting for P2 in the championship, which is important for us. Kimi is fighting for a potential P3. 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. I’m annoyed with the mistake at the end. I’m annoyed with other mistakes and then hearing such nonsense blows my mind."

Wolff also addressed a radio message sent by Verstappen's race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase in which he expressed a similar sentiment to Marko without seeing the incident with his own eyes – the pair then cleared the air after the race.

“The other thing is that beyond losing the points for the constructors’ championship, I spoke to GP, saw him, and obviously he’s emotional in that moment, because they needed a P3, I guess, to win the championship. Now, they need more," Wolff added.

“I said to him, Kimi just went off. He had a bit of a moment in the previous corner, and then entry speed into that left-hander, put the gas down and at that moment, which can happen, that lost the position.

“So with GP, everything is clear. Cleared the air. He said he didn’t see the situation. Why would we do this?”

Since Lambiase and Marko's comments, Antonelli has been subjected to vile abuse from some fans online. Red Bull and Marko have issued an official apology in response to their theories and Mercedes plan to share the abusive messages and threats with the FIA.

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