F1 Qatar: Toto Wolff confronts Max Verstappen's engineer after Kimi Antonelli McLaren accusations

Toto Wolff from Mercedes — Photo: © IMAGO

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Wolff confronts Verstappen's engineer after Antonelli McLaren accusations

Wolff was less than amused on Sunday evening

Chris Deeley Editor

Experienced sports writer covering F1 and other motorsports since 2023

Monday 1 December 2025 21:59

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Mercedes F1 chief Toto Wolff met with Max Verstappen's race engineer after Sunday's Qatar Grand Prix to discuss comments made about one of his drivers.

Lambiase noted on team radio to his driver that it looked to him as though Kimi Antonelli 'just pulled over and let Norris through' late in Sunday's race, damaging Verstappen's title challenge.

Replays showed that the long-time race engineer had misjudged the situation, possibly having only seen the pass on the 2D track map, and that Antonelli had in fact had a massive snap of oversteer and nearly lost control of his car.

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A video posted online after the race showed Lambiase and Wolff talking with another member of Mercedes staff present, a discussion which Wolff later said had cleared the air between the two.

Wolff: Lambiase spoke emotionally

"I spoke to GP [Lambiase], saw him, and obviously he’s emotional in that moment," he said, "because they needed a P3, I guess, to win the championship. Now, they need more.

“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?”

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko took significantly longer to walk back his claims that Antonelli had let the McLaren through, but said on Monday: "I took another close look at the footage.

"The first time, Antonelli could have held his ground a little better. 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."

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F1 Max Verstappen Toto Wolff Kimi Antonelli Gianpiero Lambiase