Kimi Antonelli shares how Ayrton Senna inspired his funny F1 jokes.
F1’s youngest champion has brought a lot of fun to the sport in more ways than one.
Kimi Antonelli, who won his title at just 20 years and 68 days old, loves to prank his team, often surprising them with a pie or cake to the face on their birthday.
Now, Kimi has shared that his playful side was inspired by none other than grand prix legend Ayrton Senna.
Kimi will pay tribute to Ayrton Senna at the Sao Paulo GP this weekend in Brazil, celebrating his racing hero. Before the race at the famous Interlagos circuit, he explained how Senna inspired him.
“My dad has always been a fan of Ayrton, but I really got interested when I started watching videos and reading about him,” Kimi told Sky F1.
“It wasn’t just about his skills on the track—he was amazing and very fast—but also about the person he was: kind, humble, and always trying to help others. He was proud of his country too.”
Kimi is well known for sneaking up on team members with fun surprises, usually a cake or pie on their birthday. He said Senna’s example helped shape this part of his personality.
“One thing I learned from Ayrton, and my family also taught me, is to always be myself and have fun while pranking people,” he said.
“That’s just who I am. But once I get on the track, I switch into a different mode—serious and focused. I always try to enjoy life and be true to myself.”
Ayrton Senna was famous for being fully focused on winning since his F1 debut in 1984, but his McLaren teammate Gerhard Berger helped him lighten up by playing pranks on him.
For example, Senna once bragged about his carbon-fiber briefcase being indestructible—so Berger tossed it out of their helicopter!
“It dropped near the track, but we found it again,” Berger said.
Berger also filled Senna’s hotel room with fire extinguisher foam at 3 a.m. and released a bunch of frogs in his suite, making Senna spend an hour catching them.
“Did you find the snake?” Berger joked.
Once, Senna was stuck at an airport for 24 hours after Berger swapped his passport photo with a, well, very funny image. Senna got back at him by gluing his credit cards together and putting French cheese in his car’s air conditioning. Their playful prank war went back and forth for a long time!