Lando Norris lost ground to Max Verstappen during the recent Qatar Grand Prix. The British driver was overtaken by his title rival in the first corner. A strategic blunder by McLaren then cost him even more: the championship leader fell from the second starting position to P4. It could have even been P5, had it not been for Lando Norris overtaking Kimi Antonelli with surprising ease in the closing laps. Helmut Marko suspects foul play.
As Lando Norris finished fourth, his lead over Max Verstappen is now twelve championship points. Had Norris finished behind Antonelli, the gap would have been just ten points. Therefore, a crucial overtaking move in the context of the title fight. However, within Red Bull, questions are being raised about Antonelli’s defensive tactics. During the race, race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase already suspected that McLaren and Mercedes were colluding.
“I don’t know what happened to Antonelli,” he reported to Max Verstappen, “it seems like he just moved aside and let Norris pass.” Red Bull’s top advisor Helmut Marko agrees. “He just let him pass, that was obvious,” the Austrian declared to various media outlets. McLaren uses a Mercedes engine, so the Silver Arrows might prefer to see the championship go to Norris. According to Red Bull, this could explain why the British championship leader was allowed to pass so easily.
