Explained | Here's why Red Bull ‘sincerely regrets’ comments against Kimi Antonelli

Red Bull has said that they "sincerely" regret the comments hurled at Qatar Grand Prix against Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes, which has led to him receiving death threats.

Mercedes has revealed that Antonelli even changed his profile picture to all black after receiving negative messages.

After this moment, Norris managed to get two more points, and is thus leading Verstappen by 12 instead of 10 points ahead of the final race in Abu Dhabi next week.

In a statement, Red Bull said, "Comments made before the end of and immediately after the Qatar GP suggesting that Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli had deliberately allowed Lando Norris to overtake him are clearly incorrect."

"Replay footage shows Antonelli momentarily losing control of his car, thus allowing Norris to pass him. We sincerely regret that this has led to Kimi receiving online abuse," it further added.

However, Redbull did not explicitly apologise for the accusation they levelled against Antonelli.

Lambiase, who made the comments, did apologise to Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, after the latter confronted him regarding the same, a Mercedes spokesperson said, as per BBC.

As Norris heads into the final race with a 12-point lead, he can still take the title even if Verstappen wins. However, without the two extra points that he got after Antonelli lost control, he would have had to come second to ensure the title for himself.

"We are fighting for second in the constructors' championship, which is important for us," said Wolff. "Kimi is fighting for a potential third in the race. I mean, how brainless can you be to even say something like this?" he added.

"Why would we do this? Why would we even think about interfering in a driver championship? You really need to check yourself and whether you are seeing ghosts," Wolff added.