Helmut Marko has reacted to Toto Wolff calling him "brainless" for suggesting Kimi Antonelli intentionally let Lando Norris past in the Qatar Grand Prix.
Two mistakes from the Mercedes driver, through Turn 9 and 10 on the penultimate lap, saw the F1 drivers' championship leader snatch fourth place from the young Italian at the Lusail International Circuit.
Those two extra points for Norris could prove critical in the title fight as he now leads Max Verstappen by 12 points, meaning third place at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix would be enough to seal his first crown.
Marko was not the only one in the Red Bull camp to call out the incident, with the Dutch drivers' race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, addressing it head-on before the end of the grand prix.
"Not sure what happened to Antonelli, Max. It looks like he just pulled over and let Norris through," he said over team radio.
Wolff, who cleared the air with Lambiase soon after the chequered flag, was furious with the accusation from Marko.
He highlighted the battle Mercedes is engaged in with the Milton Keynes-based squad for second in the F1 constructors' championship — in which it holds a 33-point advantage with 43 on offer at the Yas Marina Circuit next weekend — to underline how ridiculous he felt the claim was.
When the Austrian's anger was raised with his compatriot at Red Bull, Marko doubled down on his stance, imploring people to look at the footage of the incident.
"Antonelli?", the 82-year-old stated to Motorsport Magazin."If you go wrong like that twice, surely you can name it?
"It happened twice. Twice. Then the bottom was not damaged, I think.
"I can counter that as follows: One should look at it. After all, it didn't just happen once."
Don't miss out on any of the Formula 1 action thanks to this handy 2026 F1 calendar that can be easily loaded into your smartphone or PC.
Download the calenderMost read
In this article
Join the conversation!