Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has sharply criticized Red Bull’s Helmut Marko, calling him ‘brainless’ after Marko implied that Kimi Antonelli deliberately allowed Lando Norris to overtake him during the Qatar Grand Prix.

Antonelli had been successfully keeping championship leader Norris at bay during the closing moments of the season’s penultimate race, held on Sunday.

However, the Mercedes driver made an error, running wide at turn 10 on the penultimate lap, providing Norris with the chance to slip past.

Norris’s late maneuver against Antonelli meant he extended his championship lead over Verstappen to 12 points, rather than 10, heading into the final showdown in Abu Dhabi next weekend, despite not clinching the world title in Qatar.

Meanwhile, Verstappen’s race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, expressed skepticism about the pass, radioing the Dutch driver with concerns that “it looks like Antonelli simply pulled to the side and let Norris pass.”

Toto Wolff labelled Red Bull’s Helmut Marko ‘brainless’ for his comments after the Qatar Grand Prix

Marko suggested Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli had allowed Lando Norris past in the closing stages

Marko, pictured with Verstappen, doubled down on his claims following the race

Red Bull advisor Marko insisted that Antonelli had allowed Norris through, stating ‘He waved him past, that was more than clear’. 

The claim has been dismissed by Mercedes chief Wolff, who insisted Antonelli had made a mistake, while hitting back at Marko by accusing him of making a ‘brainless’ comment.

‘Bless him,’ Wolff said. ‘Helmut, this is total, utter nonsense. That blows my mind, even to hear that.

‘We’re fighting for P2 in the championship, which is important for us. Kimi is fighting for a potential P3. How brainless can you be to even say something like this?

‘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.’

Wolff revealed he had spoken with Lambiase following the race, with the Red Bull engineer offering an apology for his radio remarks and admitted he ‘didn’t see the situation’.

‘I spoke to GP,’ Wolff said. ‘I saw him, and obviously he was emotional in that moment, because they needed a P3, I guess, to help win the championship, now they need more. 

‘I said to him, ‘[Kimi] just went off. He had a bit of a moment in the previous corner and then 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.

The late pass means Norris holds a 12, rather than 10 point, lead heading into the final race

Norris saw his chance to seal the world title in Qatar pass him by after a McLaren strategy error

Verstappen earned his seventh victory of the season to keep his title hopes alive

‘But why would we do this? Why would we even think about interfering in a drivers’ championship? You really need to check yourself whether you are seeing ghosts.

‘I said to GP that there’s quite a social media storm. He said, “sorry if I caused that, I didn’t see the incident”‘.

While Lambiase has apologised for his remarks, Marko doubled down on his comment following the race by stating ‘Antonelli did it twice’, referencing Piastri overtaking the Mercedes driver earlier on.

Antonelli was insistent post-race that he had made a ‘mistake’, dismissing suggestions he had let Norris through. 

‘Obviously with two laps to go I went in a bit quick into turn nine and lost the rear and went off track,’ Antonelli said.

‘So definitely it was a mistake and I need to move forward now.’

Verstappen kept his hopes of a fifth straight title alive by earning a seventh win of the season, capitalising on a strategy error by McLaren.

The Dutchman will start the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 12 points behind Norris, while Piastri is a further four points back.