Andrea Kimi Antonelli has explained the mistake that cost him fourth place in Formula 1’s Qatar Grand Prix – to title contender Lando Norris ’ benefit.

Antonelli was chasing Carlos Sainz for the final podium spot when he lost control of his Mercedes on the penultimate lap of the race. Norris snatched fourth place away, crucially scoring two more points, which earned the Mercedes rookie criticism from Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko and Max Verstappen ’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.

“With the hard [tyre] I was pushing quite a lot, and eventually I was getting to DRS [behind Sainz],” Antonelli related. “But in [Turn 9] I had a massive moment and almost crashed, so then I went off track and lost the place to Lando, which was very annoying.”

Asked if this was his error or car-re

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