Mercedes is Adamant Kimi Antonelli Raced His Own Race and Did Not Let Norris by on Last Lap in Qatar

On the final lap of the Qatar Grand Prix, Lando Norris made it by Kimi Antonelli to scrape back two more points of his lead following McLaren's poor strategy call earlier in the race on Sunday.

After Verstappen crossed the finish line, his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, told him that Norris was P4 and Antonelli let him pass.

Norris was within DRS of Antonelli for several laps and unable to make the lunge into the fourth position until Antonelli slowed in turn 10 of the final lap. To some, Antonelli's move on lap 10 looked suspicious, as his mistake while fighting with Carlos Sainz for a podium position opened the door for a driver who shares a Mercedes engine.

Red Bull advisor Hulmut Marko said so much post-race.

"It was twice that he more or less waved Lando by; it was so obvious," Marko told the media at the track, including Motorsport.com.

Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff was appalled when media at the track shared Marko's comments with him, calling the suspicion 'brainless'.

"Bless him, Helmut. That’s total, utter nonsense," Wolff said to outlets including Autosport. "That blows my mind even to hear that. We’re fighting for P2 in the championship, which is important for us. Kimi’s fighting for a potential P3."

How brainless can you be to even say something like this? Why would we even think about interfering in a driver’s championship? You really need to check yourself."

Antonelli was quick to say that he was racing his own race, pushing hard for a third straight podium.

"I was trying to do my race, I was trying to get to the podium, I was pushing hard," the Mercedes rookie said. "Just lost the rear and went off track, that wasn't on purpose, nothing to do about it."

The two points Norris gained with the last-lap pass move him into a clinching scenario: if he finishes anywhere on the podium, with two fewer points, Verstappen would have a chance to tie with a win if Norris finished in third place.

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