Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has blasted a “brainless” and “nonsense” accusation from Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko that Andrea Kimi Antonelli allowed both McLaren cars to overtake him in the Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen benefitted from a shrewd strategic strategy amid an early pit stop in Doha to take victory ahead of Oscar Piastri, with Lando Norris finishing fourth.
The Brit would have been fifth, had it not been for an easy overtake on Antonelli on the final lap, with the Italian offering little resistance.
Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase informed the Dutchman of the decision as he crossed the line to win in a manner suggesting something untoward, but Marko, speaking to Sky Germany, went a little further.
“Antonelli waved him past, it was too obvious,” he said, adding: “He let McLaren pass twice, more or less. It was obvious. The first time [when Piastri overtook him earlier in the race] was the same”
Wolff was asked if he had heard Marko’s comments, and told media including Motorsport Week of his incredulity towards them.
“Ah, bless him, Helmut. This is total utter nonsense that blows my mind even to hear that,” he said. “We’re fighting for a P2 in the championship, which is important for us. Kimi’s fighting for a potential P3.
“I mean, how brainless can you be to even say something like this? And 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 reveals clear-the-air talks with Red Bull race engineer
Wolff revealed that he spoke to Lambiase afterwards, and the pair exchanged pleasant sentiments and cleared the air.
“The other thing is that beyond losing the points for our Constructors’ Championship, I spoke to GP [Lambiase],” he said. “I saw him and obviously he was emotional in that moment because they needed a P3, I guess, to win the championship, or P4. I don’t know, but one position.
“Now they need more. And I said to him, ‘He just went off’. He had a bit of a moment in the previous corner, had less 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’s clear. He said he didn’t see the situation. Why would we do this?”
Wolff added that Lambiase apologised after the Austrian confronted him about his words when informed of the situation by Mercedes’ communications chief, Bradley Lord.
“Yeah, I said to GP that there’s quite a social media storm, that’s what Bradley told me,” he said, “and GP said, ‘Sorry if I caused that, I didn’t see the incident’.”
READ MORE – Max Verstappen takes F1 title to the wire as Red Bull outsmarts McLaren in Qatar GP
Discussion about this post