Andrea Kimi Antonelli has revealed that Max Verstappen “showed a lot of support” to him after his error in Formula 1‘s Qatar Grand Prix attracted bitter abuse online.
Antonelli was on the receiving end of a swathe of online abuse after a late-race mistake allowed championship leader Lando Norris to steal fourth place in Lusail.
Initially, the live broadcast feed only caught part of the incident, prompting Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko and the Dutchman’s race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, to suggest Antonelli had intentionally helped the Mercedes customer outfit.
In the aftermath of the 57-lap race, Antonelli received immense online abuse – leading to the Italian even blacking out his social media profiles.
Speaking to the media ahead of the final round of his rookie campaign at the Yas Marina Circuit, however, the 19-year-old clarified that his mistake came from overworking his tyres trying to catch the Williams of Carlos Sainz ahead, in third.
“It was not easy to get all those kind of comments after the race, especially for something that I would never do, such as waving past a competitor,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“I was fighting for P3. At the end of the day, I was pushing hard and I was trying to get into DRS of Sainz.
“And especially so many laps in dirty air and pushing so hard, the mistake arrived, because, obviously, every lap I was pushing a bit more and more to get closer. And I arrived to the point where the tyre gave up. And at the moment I did a mistake and Lando passed me.”
Verstappen, who, if not for Antonelli’s error, would have come into this weekend only 10 points shy of Norris instead of 12, was in fact quick to offer support to him.
“He [Verstappen] saw what happened, so he wasn’t bothered by anything,” said Antonelli. “And he even showed support. So, really nice from him.”
When quizzed to reveal the four-time F1 champion’s exact words, Antonelli suggested it rather remained censored. That said, he underscored how supportive the Dutchman really was throughout his ordeal.
“I couldn’t really say what he said because it contained some bad words, the message. But, yeah, he just said, don’t worry about these kind of people because they’re brainless, so, yeah, just focus on the job,” revealed the 19-year-old. “But, yeah, he showed a lot of support.”
Antonelli grateful for wider Red Bull support
Racing only in his first full-time season in F1, Antonelli has had a lot of media scrutiny on him – especially as he has consistently fought at the front of the field with Mercedes.
Reflecting on the swarm of criticism he has had to face in the last week, the 19-year-old conceded that it came as a nasty surprise to him.
“I mean, obviously the interaction with people is important. But during the weekend I tried to look the least amount as possible, because, obviously, I don’t want to get any distractions,” he explained. “Just want to really focus on the job.
“But after the race I got so many messages from friends showing me what was going on, because initially I wasn’t aware of it. And then, obviously, I went looking at it and it was difficult to see.”
The Milton Keynes-based team was also quick to release a statement condemning the abuse Antonelli was receiving. Antonelli also expressed his gratitude for the team clearing the air, with Lambiase also speaking to him during the week.
“After the race to receive those kind of comments definitely hurt. But obviously it was nice to see the Red Bull statement,” concluded Antonelli.
“Also, GP came to talk to me as well and we clarified [things]. But apart from that after that I got a lot of support, which was nice and definitely also it helped to kind of forget what happened and focus on to this weekend. But, yeah, now I forgot about it.”
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