Purple Bull has issued a press release saying it “sincerely regrets” the abuse Kimi Antonelli has acquired following feedback made about his driving throughout the Qatar Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase informed his driver over crew radio that Antonelli “appears to be like like he simply pulled over and let [Lando] Norris by way of” on the penultimate lap of the race, when the rookie made a mistake and ran broad. Following the checkered flag, Purple Bull advisor Helmut Marko added his personal perception that Antonelli had twice allowed McLaren drivers to move, referring to Oscar Piastri’s transfer at Flip 1 earlier within the race.
Antonelli turned his Instagram profile image black after his account acquired numerous abusive feedback.
“Feedback made earlier than the tip of and instantly after the Qatar GP suggesting that Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli had intentionally allowed Lando Norris to overhaul him are clearly incorrect,” the assertion learn.
“Replay footage reveals Antonelli momentarily dropping management of his automobile, thus permitting Norris to move him. We sincerely remorse that this has led to Kimi receiving on-line abuse.”
Previous to the Purple Bull assertion, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff had criticized both Marko and Lambiase for their comments, and Lambiase issued an apology explaining he not seen the complete replay of what led to Norris getting by Antonelli.
Norris gained an additional two factors because of passing the Mercedes driver for fourth place on the penultimate lap, leaving him with a 12-point benefit over Verstappen within the combat for the drivers’ championship heading into the ultimate race of the season in Abu Dhabi.
