F1 race winner dismisses claims Qatar cost Verstappen F1 championship

Speaking via a gambling website, the 61-year-old reflected on the recently concluded season, stating that the late incident involving Kimi Antonelli in Qatar cannot be singled out as the reason Verstappen missed out on the title.

“You can always look back and say, well, if this had happened, I would have been in a better position, or if that had happened, it would have been a much tougher situation. But that's the way racing is,” Herbert said.

The three-time race winner further added that Lando Norris himself suffered a few incidents that cost him points, including the DNF recorded at the Dutch Grand Prix and the application of the McLaren papaya rules.

“What happened in Zandvoort was not fair to Lando, but that's racing. That's how racing is. The Papaya rules, which were coming into effect every now and again, didn't help the championship either. What happened in Monza was only a little bit more positive for Lando,” Herbert added.

The Qatar Grand Prix witnessed a late incident involving Antonelli and Norris. The Mercedes driver went wide in his defence of the McLaren driver in the final stages of the race, allowing Norris to gain a position and two points, which proved pivotal in the overall championship standings.

Earlier, Verstappen fired back at a journalist who attributed his championship loss to the incident involving George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix. 

The Red Bull Racing driver, who was not having any of such claims, stressed that a drivers’ title is won over 24 rounds rather than being decided by an incident in a particular race weekend.

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