‘Utter nonsense’- Toto Wolff slams ‘brainless’ accusation from Mercedes’ F1 rivals
Toto Wolff angrily hit out at Helmut Marko for suggesting Kimi Antonelli allowed Lando Norris to pass him in Qatar.
McClaren star Norris managed to snatch a fourth-place finish after overtaking Antonelli on the penultimate lap of the Qatar Grand Prix, with this earning him a crucial extra two championship points.
The Championship leader could have been crowned world champion on Sunday, but saw his title bid derailed after a McClaren strategy fumble.
This left him in fifth heading into the final lap, having struggled to chase down Mercedes’ Antonelli, who had been defending.
But the Italian then ran off the road on turn 10 of the Lusail Circuit, allowing Norris to race ahead of him.
This proved crucial, as the Brit now takes a 12-point lead – instead of ten – over Red Bull’s Max Verstappen into the season finale in Abu Dhabi next week.
As a result, Norris only needs to finish third in the decider to be assured of claiming his first world title.
This is despite Verstappen taking the win in Qatar, and McClaren teammate Oscar Piastri finishing second to keep his title hopes alive.
However, the circumstances surrounding this didn’t go down well with all parties, with eyebrows being raised over Norris’ overtake.
What was the reaction to Norris’ overtake?
Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase was the first to claim that Antonelli’s actions had been suspicious.
The Italian hinted at foul play, telling his driver over the radio: “I am not sure what happened to Antonelli there.
“It looked like he just pulled over and let Lando through.”
And Red Bull adviser Marko then took things a step further when he doubled down on Lambiase’s accusation.
When asked if he was annoyed by Antonelli losing fourth place, he replied: “Yes, because it was twice where he more or less waved Lando by.”
“Let him by? It was so obvious.”
How did Toto Wolff respond?
Red Bull’s claims sparked a furious response from Mercedes team principal Wolff, who branded the suggestions ‘brainless’.
In response to Marko’s comments, Wolff said: “This is total, utter nonsense.
“That blows my mind even to hear that. How brainless can you be to say something like this?
“We’re fighting for P2 in the championship, which is important for us, and Kimi is fighting for a potential P3 [in the race], and I mean, how brainless can you be to even say something like this?
“It annoys me, because I’m annoyed with the race itself, I’m annoyed with the mistake at the end, I’m annoyed with other mistakes, and then hearing such nonsense blows my mind.”
Wolff also revealed he had sought out Lambiase after the race about the controversial overtake.
He continued: “The other thing beyond losing points in the constructors’ championship is that I spoke with [Gianpiero Lambiase],
“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 the left-hander, put the gas down, and at the moment, which can happen, lost the position’.
“So with GP, everything is clear, he said he didn’t see the situation, but why would we do this?
“Why would we even think about interfering in the drivers’ championship? I mean, you need to check yourself whether you are seeing ghosts.”
Following the dramatic outcome in Qatar, Norris now sits 12 points ahead of Verstappen, while Piastri is 16 points adrift of the top of the table ahead of an epic showdown at next week’s season finale.
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