Kimi Antonelli has broken his silence for the first time since the Qatar Grand Prix after comments from Red Bull resulted in the teenager being targeted with abuse from fans.
Verstappen's victory in Lusail cuts Lando Norris' title lead down to 12 points ahead of the season finale, with Oscar Piastri also in contention heading to Abu Dhabi.
Despite McLaren's strategy blunder being the main talking point of the race, Antonelli was also put under the microscope following an incident on the penultimate lap.
After holding Norris off exceptionally for the final stint of the race, a costly snap of oversteer from the Mercedes saw the McLaren cruise through to gain two vital extra points.
Advert
Following the error, Verstappen's race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase appeared to accuse the teenager of intentionally letting Norris past.
“Not sure what happened to Antonelli, looks like he just pulled over and let Norris through," he said over team radio.
Lambiase's comments were echoed by Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko, who claimed it was 'so obvious' when speaking to GPblog.
These accusations have resulted in Antonelli receiving a serious amount of abuse on social media, with Red Bull and the FIA releasing statements condemning the comments made.
Antonelli speaks out following Red Bull apology
In his post race interview, the teenager insisted it was not intentional and he made the mistake due to pushing too hard to try and overtake Carlos Sainz for the podium.
Due to the abuse he received, Antonelli 'blacked out' his social media accounts and is yet to make an official post.
However, the 19-year-old has recently broken his silence by adding a comment to his most recent post from before the race in Qatar.
He wrote: "Thanks everyone for the support. Grazie a tutti per il supporto."
Antonelli came into Qatar off the back-to-back podiums in Brazil and Las Vegas, after significantly struggling during the European legs of the season.
The Mercedes star currently sits seventh in the F1 standings in his debut season, but will leapfrog Lewis Hamilton for sixth if he outscores the Ferrari man by two points in Abu Dhabi.
Topics: Formula 1, Lando Norris, Motorsport
Tom Jenkins