Red Bull apologise after Antonelli hit with abuse

MERCEDES teenager Kimi Antonelli has been the subject of death threats after rivals Red Bull suggested he deliberately moved out of Lando Norris’ way in the closing stages of the Qatar Grand Prix.

- PHILIP DUNCAN

Norris moved up to fourth after Antonelli ran wide on the second-to-last lap of Sunday’s race.

The McLaren driver gained two points from Antonelli’s mistake, which means he now can finish third, rather than runner-up at this weekend’s season finale in Abu Dhabi, to be assured of beating Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to the title.

Verstappen’s race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase told his driver, who won in Qatar, over the radio: “It looked like he (Antonelli) just pulled over and let Norris through”

Red Bull’s motorsport adviser, Helmut Marko, was also critical of the 19-year-old rookie, claiming he “waved” Norris past.

Antonelli, who replaced Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, has turned his profile picture on Instagram black following a torrent of online attacks. The Press Association has been told that Mercedes have identified “more than 1,100 severe or suspect” comments - “several of which were death threats” - across Antonelli’s social media accounts.

An additional 330 “severe or suspect” comments were also flagged via Mercedes’ social media channels. Mercedes have shared the figures with the FIA’s United Against Online Abuse campaign.