Red Bull have distanced themselves from comments made by Max Verstappen’s race engineer moments after the Qatar Grand Prix.

It had been suggested that Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli deliberately allowed Lando Norris to overtake on the final lap.

Four-time champion Verstappen kept his faint hopes of a fifth alive in surprising fashion with victory in Qatar as his McLaren rivals fluffed their strategy.

A new mandatory tyre rule for the weekend’s event mixed up strategy calls, and both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were left hampered by their team’s decision-making.

Both drivers were told not to pit when out front when a safety car was called out on lap seven, but the rest of the grid did.

Verstappen was the main beneficiary of the poor call, taking the win as Piastri ended up second, and

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