Andrea Kimi Antonelli asked his team how many points Max Verstappen lost the world championship by after taking the chequered flag on Sunday.

The Mercedes driver asked his race engineer Peter Bonnington about the championship outcome after finishing the final race of the season 15th.

Verstappen won the final race of the season but lost the world championship to Lando Norris, who finished third, by two points. Antonelli received death threats and other abuse on social media following the previous race in Losail, where he lost a position to Norris when he made a mistake on the penultimate lap of the race.

Two Red Bull team members initially claimed Antonelli’s move was deliberate but subsequently retracted their comments. Red Bull subsequently issued a statement stating Antonelli did not attempt to help Norris and condemning the abuse he received.

Antonelli was one of several drivers who took interest in the championship outcome at the end of the race and was particularly keen to know what the points gap was.

Following the race Antonelli approached Verstappen in the media pen and commiserated with him. In addition to the circumstances of Losail, Antonelli also cost Verstappen points when he lost control of his car on the first lap of the Austrian Grand Prix and hit the Red Bull, taking him out.

Antonelli’s eight-round run of points scores came to an end in Abu Dhabi, where he was eliminated in the second round of qualifying and was unable to break into the top 10 in the grand prix.

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“It was one of those times where I really struggled in the car,” he admitted afterwards. “I was really struggling with the balance. Just no pace, it was very weird.

“But to be fair today was a bad race, but I think before this weekend we had a really strong run from Baku onwards.”

Antonelli’s radio messages after taking the chequered flag

Bonnington And Kimi so that was our first season. So 2025 done. That’s been a solid, solid season mate. Secured P2, super-happy in the garage.
Antonelli Yeah, but I had no pace to be fair, was not good.
Bonnington Yeah, today wasn’t one of our better showings, but we certainly had some real good races ahead of that, mate. So it’s plenty to build on. I think we’ve got a real firm foundation for next year. And could we have strat 14 and then HPP one position 12 and pick up rubber where you can please, mate. So for your info, finishing order was Verstappen, Piastri, Norris. George finished P5, so we secured P2 in the constructors’.
Antonelli So Norris won the championship?
Bonnington Affirm, yes.
Antonelli By how much?
Bonnington So Norris P3, sixteen and a half seconds.
Antonelli No, but by how many points?
Bonnington So that was just two, just two points.

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