“How brainless can you be?!”

After his second tire change, Lando Norris returned to the circuit in fifth, just behind Kimi Antonelli.

After 12 laps, 44-56, the Mercedes pilot kept the world leader at a distance. Norris managed to overtake him only on the penultimate lap, after which Antonelli came out in the set and left more than enough space for the Briton.

HUGE scandal in Formula 1, after the moment that could make Lando Norris champion: “How brainless can you be?!”

On the radio channel, Max Verstappen's race engineer told the Dutchman that “it looked like Antonelli pulled to the right and let Norris overtake him”. The insinuations from the Red Bull camp continued after the race. Helmut Marko, Verstappen's team adviser, stated that “twice he signaled Lando to pass, it was obvious”.

Toto Wolff, CEO and principal team at Mercedes, exploded after hearing the accusations against his driver.

“Helmut, it's total nonsense! Just hearing something like that drives me crazy. We're fighting for 2nd place in the constructors' standings, something important to us, and Kimi was fighting for 3rd place. How out of your mind can you be to say something like that?

It annoys me, I was also annoyed by the way the race was conducted, the mistake at the end also annoyed me. I'm nervous and hearing something like this drives me crazy. (…)

Why would we consider meddling in the title fight? He needs to go for a checkup, maybe he has visions,” he commented, according to PlanetF1.

Antonelli's mistake resulted in Norris getting 12 points instead of 10. That means the Brit goes into the final race of the year with a 12-point lead over Verstappen, points that could prove decisive.

Driver standings ahead of the final race in 2025

1. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 408 points
2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 396
3. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 392
4. George Russell (McLaren) – 309
5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 230
6. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) – 152
7. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – 150