Andrea Kimi Antonelli said he lost fourth place to Lando Norris in the Qatar Grand Prix because he made a mistake.
Max Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase said it appeared to him as though the Mercedes driver had deliberately slowed down to let his McLaren rival overtake him.
Footage of the incident showed Antonelli briefly lose control of his car on the penultimate lap at the exit of turn nine as he entered the braking zone for the next corner. He then had a snap of oversteer at the exit of turn 10 which sent him off the track.
Norris, who had been pressuring Antonelli for several laps, immediately overtook the Mercedes.
“Not sure what happened to Antonelli, Max,” said Lambiase afterwards, “looks like he just pulled over and let Norris through.”
There was no indication on Antonelli’s radio that he was given any instruction to assist Norris and nor would Mercedes be expected to help a rival team, even an engine customer.
Antonelli reacted angrily to his mistake on the radio. “Ah fuck I had a massive…” he began to say before race engineer Peter Bonnington interrupted to tell him: “Yeah, saw it mate.”
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“Ah man I cannot believe it,” said Antonelli after taking the chequered flag behind Norris. “I tried.”
“It just looked like it spun up and then a big snap,” Bonnington sympathised.
After the race Antonelli said the error was the final setback of a “pretty frustrating race.”
“We were unlucky with the pit stop, having to hold for so long at the box and losing many places,” he said. “That was a shame on that side.
“After that the race was a bit compromised because I was stuck in Carlos [Sainz’s] dirty air and I was really struggling to get close. Obviously I was a bit annoyed with that.
“Then obviously with two laps to go I went in a bit quick into turn nine and lost the rear and went off track. So definitely it was a mistake and I need to move forward now.”
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