Helmut Marko fires Kimi Antonelli accusation after late mistake

Helmut Marko has accused Kimi Antonelli of letting Lando Norris pass in the closing stages of the Qatar Grand Prix.

Running fourth after Norris's second stop on Lap 44 of 57, Antonelli was able to hold the McLaren at bay until Lap 56, when he made a mistake at Turn 9. 

This placed him on a tighter angle for Turn 10, when he ran wide and allowed Norris through for fourth, rescuing two more points in the title challenge as Max Verstappen went on to win the grand prix.

That meant Norris has a 12-point buffer over Verstappen instead of a 10-point one he would have had for fifth, with Norris on 408 points to Verstappen's 396 and Oscar Piastri also in contention in the showdown on 392.

Reflecting, Marko felt Antonelli had acted deliberately. 

"He let him pass," Marko told Sky DE, "it was too flashy."

Verstappen's engineer Gianpiero Lambiase also believed something was amiss, telling the race-winner over the radio: "Not sure what happened to Antonelli. It looks like he just pulled over and let Norris through."

Veteran Austrian Marko then turned his attention to Verstappen's 70th career grand prix victory. 

"We took the right decision to stop during the safety car, then our speed in the race was able to keep up with McLarens. Max calculated it all very precisely. He drove exactly as fast as he needed to keep Piastri from getting closer.

"We were surprised, but positively surprised, and we then precisely figured out our further strategy," he added about McLaren not pitting. 

"So I think that with the first stop at the right time, the victory was all but secured."

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