Helmut Marko Accuses Kimi Antonelli of Race Manipulation at Qatar GP

Helmut Marko boldly claimed that Kimi Antonelli was involved in race manipulation against Max Verstappen's favor at Qatar GP.

Helmut Marko Accuses Kimi Antonelli of Race Manipulation at Qatar GP

Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen (via Red Bull), Helmut Marko (via Getty)

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Kimi Antonelli was one of the many drivers to watch at the Qatar GP. The Italian drove consistently throughout the race and was on par to achieve a P4 finish. However, in the final laps, he committed a mistake and gave the position to Lando Norris.

This directly put Red Bull’s Max Verstappen‘s championship ambitions at a disadvantage. Now, Red Bull advisor Dr. Helmut Marko makes some massive accusations of race manipulation by Antonelli.

Max Verstappen was bound to be just 10 points behind Lando Norris if the latter finished in P5. However, Kimi Antonelli‘s slip-up meant that Norris was now 12 points in the lead. As such, the Red Bull garage was definitely not delighted with this situation. Moreover, even Verstappen’s race engineer, GP, believed that this was an intentional move from Mercedes and Antonelli.

Helmut Marko did not mince his words while making a brutal assumption. Marko claimed that there were two separate occasions throughout the season and the race where Kimi Antonelli waved Lando Norris by. Marko reckoned that it was pretty obvious that the Italian was trying to help Norris in his championship ambitions in the 2025 season.

Further, Helmut Marko recalled the Austrian GP and how Kimi Antonelli crashed into Max Verstappen, causing the latter to DNF from the race. Marko made a bold claim that Antonelli was directly helping Red Bull’s competitors, that is, McLaren. Though Toto Wolff has responded to these claims and labeled them ‘utter nonsense’ from the 82-year-old, as the former was having none of it.

It was twice where he more or less waved Lando by. It was so obvious. Antonelli now helps our main competitor, in Austria he was crashing [Verstappen] in the rear.

Helmut Marko told motorsport.com.

Kimi Antonelli accepts he made ‘a mistake’ at the Qatar GP against Lando Norris

Certainly, Kimi Antonelli is among the many rookies who have impressed everyone on the grid this year. The Italian has performed great all year round and has achieved the P7 spot in the driver’s standings. Notably, Antonelli is just two points shy of ousting Lewis Hamilton from the P6 spot with Ferrari. However, the 19-year-old accepted that he made a mistake in the final laps of the race.

Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli (via Red Bull)
Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli (via Red Bull)

Kimi Antonelli recalled that he was pushing quite a lot on the Hard compounds and got into the DRS range with Carlos Sainz. However, Antonelli reckoned that he had a massive moment and almost crashed out going off track.

As such, he had to cede position to Lando Norris, and it was annoying for him. However, the rookie accepted that he made a mere mistake and had no ill intentions to sabotage Max Verstappen’s championship chances.

With the hard [tyre] I was pushing quite a lot, and eventually I was getting into DRS, But I had a massive moment and almost crashed, so then I went off track and lost the place to Lando, which was very annoying. I was pretty comfortable because he was even out of the DRS for a couple of laps, and in dirty air you just couldn’t get past. So, I felt I could have held him, but I just made a mistake.

Kimi Antonelli said via Motorsport.com.

Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli are great friends off-track, and the latter definitely wouldn’t want to meddle in the championship fight at the forefront. Although the situation seemed fishy at first, there were no ill intentions, and both teams have clarified their stances. The season finale is up next, and it will be very exciting to witness which driver manages to come out on top.

Read More: Max Verstappen Credits McLaren’s “Interesting Move” for Qatar GP Win