Kimi Antonelli reveals how Ayrton Senna inspired his hilarious F1 pranks
F1’s youngest champion has been a breath of fresh air in F1, in more ways than one.
Kimi Antonelli, who clinched his title at the age of just 20 years and 68 days, has an insatiable appetite for pranking his team members - usually meaning a pie or cake to the face on their birthday.
Now, the Italian has revealed the inspiration for his mischievous jokes has come from none other than grand prix legend Ayrton Senna himself.
Kimi Antonelli on his inspiration from F1 legend Ayrton Senna
Kimi Antonelli will run a special Ayrton Senna tribute at the Sao Paulo GP this weekend in Brazil, acknowledging his racing hero.
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Prior to the race at the famous Interlagos circuit, the Italian explained how he’s taken the lead from the Brazilian F1 legend.
“My dad has always been a fan of Ayrton, but definitely, Ayrton caught my attention when I started to watch DVDs and read this about him,” he told Sky F1.
“And it was not only about the driver he was, because, yes, he was spectacular on track, he was very fast, his feeling with the car was very special.
“But also, what caught my attention was the person he was, you know, very empathetic, very humble.
“Someone who was trying to give back what he was getting, trying to help the less fortunate, and also showing how proud he was of his country."
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Kimi Antonelli says Ayrton Senna’s personality prompted his own pranks
Antonelli has become famous for springing out on team members when they least expect it, most of the time a pie or a cake to the face on their birthday.
Now, the 2026 champ has revealed that Ayrton Senna’s approach prompted this too.
“One thing that I learned from him, and also that was taught from my family, was to always be myself, having fun, pranking people,” he said.
“It's just the way I am. And then, of course, once I go on the track, I become a another person, different guy.
“I will always try to be myself and to enjoy as much as possible because that's that's the way I am.”
How F1 legend Ayrton Senna lightened up
The intense Ayrton Senna made a name for himself for being solely focused on winning, ever since his debut in 1984, but it was his McLaren teammate Gerhard Berger who finally taught him to lighten up a little - subjecting him to more than a few pranks.
Senna once proudly told Berger his briefcase, made from carbon fibre, was indestructible - so the Austrian promptly threw it out of the window of their helicopter.
“It fell somewhere near the course, but we found it again,” Berger said.
As well as filling Senna’s hotel room with fire extinguisher foam at 3am, he also released a family of frogs into his suite on another occasion.
“I’ve spent the last hour catching 12 frogs in my room,” Senna told him. Berger replied: “Did you find the snake?”
The beleaguered Brazilian also once found himself held back for 24 hours at an airport after Berger had changed his passport image for that of, what their McLaren boss Ron Dennis detailed as, “an equivalent-sized piece of male genitalia”.
Senna responded by gluing Berger’s credit cards together and putting French cheese in his air conditioning, in a battle of the pranks which raged on and on.
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Topics: Formula 1, Kimi Antonelli, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
James Elson
