Behind the scenes with Antonelli: Verstappen forces Red Bull to apologize to Kimi
Max Verstappen insisted that Red Bull issue an official apology to Kimi Antonelli. In Formula 1, incidents like this do happen: the Austrian team had not reacted immediately to curb Helmut Marko’s unfortunate remarks. It was a necessary step, especially given the wave of criticism and threats directed at the young Bolognese driver, who was entirely innocent of the baseless accusations made by the octogenarian Milton Keynes advisor.
Why was Antonelli targeted by insults?
Let’s start with the facts: during the final stages of the Qatar Grand Prix, Kimi defended brilliantly against the, frankly, rather unrelenting attacks of Lando Norris. The Briton’s McLaren, already struggling following the developments in Losail, had likely sustained damage to its floor after going off-track, confirming how much the current championship leader suffers under pressure.
The young Italian was effectively untouchable, and even on the straight with DRS open, Norris’ MCL39 could not close the gap to Antonelli’s W16. However, on the penultimate lap, the trigger moment occurred: Kimi made a mistake, partly due to tires already at their limit, while Norris had fresher rubber. It was a serious error in the context of the race and the championship, giving Lando the opportunity to claw back two points in the world title fight.
Verstappen’s direct intervention and Marko’s apology
Logically, the matter should have ended there, but unfortunately, it did not: Antonelli was bombarded with criticism, insults, and even death threats via social media. Red Bull had not handled the situation well, failing to measure their words. Max’s race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, opened up over the radio saying: “Kimi let Lando through.”
The situation did not sit well with Toto Wolff, who reported that Antonelli immediately apologized after the race. The person who caused the most damage, however, was the usual Helmut Marko: the Milton Keynes advisor accused Antonelli of deliberately letting Norris through and did not retract his statement immediately, triggering the online backlash aimed at Kimi.
Antonelli “isolated” himself, changing his Instagram profile picture to a completely black image, a clear sign of how much these comments affected him. Max Verstappen intervened directly: according to our sources and confirmed by our colleague Leo Turrini, the four-time world champion forced Red Bull to publicly apologize to his good friend Kimi.
The team issued a brief press release clarifying their stance, stating that the Italian driver had no intention to influence the result, while Marko later retracted his statement, acknowledging that Norris’ pass over Antonelli was not deliberate but simply a racing mistake.
Social media: a scourge of humanity
Mercedes is already taking steps to report those responsible for the abusive messages directed at the Bolognese driver, but this episode serves as a lesson. In a time when everyone can say anything without restraint, the main protagonists must be careful with their words. Social networks, unfortunately, are part of daily life even in Formula 1.
Until proper controls are in place over what can and cannot be said online, incidents like this will continue. Accusing a 19-year-old of affecting the world championship fight, when it is clear he made a simple error, is reckless.
Helmut Marko should be disciplined by Red Bull to avoid, first and foremost, public embarrassments for a team representative who is still fighting for the championship on track. Secondly, exposing anyone to uncontrolled public shaming on social media is irresponsible. Well done, Max, who has matured in every way over the past few years.
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