Hatred against Mercedes drivers
Toto Wolff: “They’re just sick”
12/13/2025 – 8:33 a.mReading time: 2 minutes
The Formula 1 season is over, but one scene still heats up emotions. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff defends his driver – and distributes.
Lando Norris was crowned world champion in Formula 1 for the first time, two points ahead of Red Bull driver Max Verstappen. The McLaren driver was able to celebrate in Abu Dhabi. However, fans of Verstappen are still upset on social networks about a scene that happened in Qatar and in which Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli was involved because of the narrow title win. His team boss Toto Wolff has no understanding for the hatred towards his protégé.
“They’re just sick. I feel sorry for them,” said the 53-year-old on “Sky Sports F1” about the people who insult Antonelli online. Wolff also said: “I said a few years ago: You sit there with your laptop on your chest – and God knows what you were doing before you wrote that little comment. I have no respect for that.”
What exactly happened in Qatar? On the penultimate lap, Lando Norris in his McLaren came rushing up behind Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli. The Italian initially held his own, but then made a driving mistake in the ninth corner. The consequence: Norris came past – much to the annoyance of Verstappen’s Red Bull team.
His race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase radioed the Dutchman: “I don’t know what happened to Antonelli. It looks like he just drove to the side and let Norris pass.” Even then, Wolff reacted in horror and countered: “That’s absolutely nonsense. How can you be so brainless as to say something like that?” At this point, Mercedes was fighting for second place in the constructors’ championship. Wolff emphasized that his driver would not simply let a competitor pass.
Wolff now also received support from former world champion Nico Rosberg, who also said on the TV channel Sky about the hatred: “That’s terrible. That’s completely unacceptable.”
Helmut Marko, who recently announced his departure from Formula 1 with Red Bull, also said in an interview with “Oe24” that the two point difference had nothing to do with this scene from Antonelli: “If Norris had needed more points in the last race, Piastri would have had to swap places with him. The mistakes happened before.”
Norris came third in the last race, which was enough for him to win the world title. His teammate Oscar Piastri ended up in second place and could have let Norris pass if necessary.