Sparks have been flying since Team McLaren’s disastrous pit stop strategy during the Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix at the Lusail International Circuit on Sunday. It saw Red Bull Racing’s Dutch driver Max Verstappen run away with a win ahead of Australian Oscar Piastri of McLaren, while the team’s championship hopeful, British driver Lando Norris, finished fourth.
Not just McLaren’s lack of an early pit stop, but Mercedes teenager Kimi Antonelli, who let Norris pass in the penultimate lap, is now receiving death threats.
Norris was elevated to fourth after Antonelli ran wide. Norris earned two points from Antonelli’s mistake, which means he can now finish third rather than second at the season-ending race in Abu Dhabi next week to be assured of beating Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to the title.
As things stand, Norris is now on 408 points, Verstappen on 396, and Piastri on 392. At the forthcoming season-ender in Abu Dhabi, Norris will need to finish in the top three to secure his maiden title. The other two realistically need to win and hope Norris finishes down the order, barring a mishap.
Antonelli Hit With Online Abuse
Italian Kimi Antonelli, who replaced Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes and finished fifth in Qatar on Sunday, has been the subject of a barrage of online threats. He has turned his profile picture on Instagram black following a torrent of online attacks.
The Press Association said that Mercedes has identified “more than 1100 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. Meanwhile, Red Bull was moved to issue an apology on Monday.
Comments made before the end of and immediately after the Qatar GP suggesting that Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli had deliberately allowed Lando Norris to overtake him are clearly incorrect. Replay footage shows Antonelli momentarily losing control of his car, thus allowing Norris to pass him. We sincerely regret that this has led to Kimi receiving online abuse.
Did Antonelli “Pull Over”? Confusion Over Radio Message
What made matters worse for Antonelli was race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase telling Verstappen over the radio that: “It looked like he (Antonelli) just pulled over and let Norris through.”
This is total, utter nonsense that blows my mind. We are fighting for second in the constructors’ championship, which is important for us. Kimi is fighting for a potential third in the race. I mean, how brainless can you be to even say something like this?
“And it annoys me. Because I’m annoyed with the race itself, how it went. I’m annoyed with the mistake at the end. I’m annoyed with other mistakes. And then hearing such nonsense blows my mind. “I spoke to GP (Lambiase). Obviously they were emotional in that moment. I said to him, ‘He (Antonelli) just went off. He had a bit of a moment in the previous corner and then had less entry speed into the left-hander. It can happen. “So with GP everything is clear. We cleared the air. He said that he didn’t see the situation. But why would we do this? Why would we even think about interfering in a driver championship? You really need to check yourself and whether you are seeing ghosts.”
The Pit-Stop Gamble That Failed
The safety car was deployed early on the 7th lap when Nico Hülkenberg of Sauber and Pierre Gasly’s Alpine made contact, ending Hülkenberg’s race. Verstappen opted to make a pit stop with everyone else, except the two McLarens, who surprisingly stayed out. McLaren said via team radio that the other teams had lost their flexibility for the rest of the race, while there was speculation that McLaren faced a dilemma about potentially disadvantaging one driver if they pitted.
Frustration Within McLaren
Team McLaren CEO Zak Brown said, “We clearly made a huge mistake.” Team principal Andrea Stella added, “We lost the victory with Oscar and we lost the podium with Lando.”
“Clearly we didn’t get it right tonight. I drove the best race that I could and as fast as I could. There was nothing left out there. I think in hindsight it’s pretty obvious what we would have done, but I’m sure we’ll discuss it as a team. Obviously it’s a little bit tough to swallow at the moment.”
Norris said, “It was not our finest day, but that’s life. It’s always a gamble. I feel like we’re the ones who took the gamble in a way. Now it’s the wrong decision and we shouldn’t have done it.
Was the Strategy Deliberate?
Meanwhile, many, including experts present at the Qatar GP, are questioning whether McLaren’s move was deliberate, intended to give Norris a better shot at the title in Abu Dhabi. “Piastri seemed to be cruising and could have gone on to beat Verstappen and taken the title,” exclaimed an analyst. “Now both Norris and Piastri may be left to lick their wounds as Verstappen could be laughing his way to another championship title.”
The cost of accidents in Formula One is not measure (only) in point anymore