It appeared that Lando Norris would finish fifth in Lusail on Sunday, as he struggled to overtake Kimi Antonelli towards the end of the Qatar Grand Prix. But with the Italian driver making a costly mistake in the final few laps, Norris was able to take fourth.
It appeared that he just moved aside to let Norris by. However, it later became quite clear that Antonelli oversteered into a turn and lost over one second.
As a result, the British driver was able to gain two additional points, meaning that his lead over Max Verstappen is 12 points rather than 10 points heading into the final Grand Prix weekend of the season.
The damage to Verstappen’s title charge, which now means that Norris can clinch with a third place finish rather than a runner-up finish this weekend, sparked lots of controversy as soon as the checkered flag waved.
Lots of abuse was directed towards Antonelli on social media, resulting in him changing his Instagram profile picture to a blacked-out image.
The FIA must be more stern on these incidents
To the shock of many, Helmut Marko himself was very quick to publicly bash the Mercedes driver without even properly assessing the situation. Though he later reviewed the incident and admitted to being wrong, the damage was already done.
Drivers facing abuse online and from key figures is simply not okay, and the FIA tend not to do as much as they should in these situations. Their usual public statement of support for whichever driver was targeted is simply not enough.
But a very senior and long-standing member of the paddock engaging in this kind of behavior needs to be a punishable offense. Some sort of extensive fine to Red Bull would send a message across the paddock for all members to think twice and review all details before they publicly go after another driver.
With the offseason set to begin after this weekend, the FIA should look to clearly define some guidelines towards abuse of drivers, especially from within the paddock. A failure to do so before the Australian Grand Prix would only tell us they are not out for the best interests of the competitors.