Losing the world title by two points to Lando Norris, Kimi Antonelli went over to Max Verstappen to say sorry, only for the Dutchman to brush it aside.

Antonelli came in for a vile torrid of online abuse, even receiving death threats, when a mistake late in the Qatar Grand Prix opened the door for Norris to overtake him and claim an extra two points.

Kimi Antonelli approached Max Verstappen after the Abu Dhabi GP

But while those two points were by no means the deciding factor in a championship in which Red Bull struggled and Verstappen got himself points in Spain when a penalty for a red mist moment dropped him from fifth to tenth, a sheepish looking Antonelli came over to say sorry to the now former World Champion.

Stopped by Antonelli in the media pen, the two shook hands and hugged with Antonelli apologising to Verstappen.

“Sorry about last week,” said the Mercedes driver.

“Mate, don’t, it’s all good,” replied the Red Bull driver, before repeating, “It’s all good.”

Antonelli went on to call Verstappen “the best ever”.

Respect 🤝 pic.twitter.com/sWwnMZ3L50

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) December 7, 2025

The respect between Antonelli and Verstappen has been clear all season with the Dutchman often one of the first to congratulate the Italian on his milestones, with Antonelli also quickly over to Verstappen.

As such it came as a shock when Red Bull blasted Antonelli, even in the heat of the moment.

GianPiero Lambiase said over team radio: “It looked like he just pulled over and let Lando through”, while Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko later told reporters it was “so obvious” that Norris was “waved” through by Antonelli.

Red Bull did later issued a statement clarifying that suggestions Antonelli had “deliberately allowed Lando Norris to overtake him are clearly incorrect”.

Verstappen also approached Antonelli personally.

F1 2025: The season’s winners and losers

👉 The results of the F1 2025 championship

👉 The updated Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship standings

“It was nice to see the Red Bull statement,” he told PlanetF1.com and other media in Abu Dhabi. “Also, GP came to talk to me as well and we clarified.

“I also clarified with Max and that was nice, but apart from that I got a lot of support, which was nice, and definitely also it helped to kind of forget what happened and focus onto this weekend.”

He added: “[Verstappen] saw what happened. He wasn’t bothered by anything. He even showed support, so really nice from him.”

Asked what Verstappen had said, the Mercedes driver replied: “I cannot really say what he said because it contained some bad words, but he just said don’t worry about these kinds of people because they’re brainless, so just focus on the job.”

As for Verstappen, he says it was only right that Red Bull and Marko apologised before going on to call out social media users who hide behind fake names.

“The issue, I think, was that in the footage that came out first, it looked like he moved aside. That was the feed. If you watch the replay, you see he had massive oversteer twice.

“But from Helmut’s side and in general, if you see something for the first time and you don’t have all the footage; and if afterward you have seen everything, then of course it’s only proper to say: ‘We saw this wrong, that’s not how it was.’

“I was in the car, so I had no idea what was going on. Until I saw the footage. Then it’s clear what happened there.

“What people say on social media is a problem with social media. That has nothing to do with what Helmut actually says. After what he said, it still doesn’t mean you can completely tear someone to shreds, does it?

“That’s the problem you need to tackle with social media. Why can people create all these accounts, even without a real name? It’s just not regulated. That’s a bigger problem.”

Read next: Key Max Verstappen ally Lambiase left emotional after the end of Red Bull’s reign