F1 News: Kimi Antonelli expects Mercedes payback and a penalty for Monza blockbuster

Kimi Antonelli

Kimi Antonelli expects Mercedes payback and a penalty for Monza blockbuster

The bill's coming due for the 20-year-old

Chris Deeley Editor

Experienced sports writer covering F1 and other motorsports since 2023

Tuesday 1 September 2026 10:58 Updated: 11:39

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Kimi Antonelli has admitted that he has something potentially unpleasant in store for him at Monza this weekend.

It's not his grid penalty for changing his power unit - although that is waiting, and won't be fun - but is instead some long-awaited payback for the prank crusade he's embarked on against some Mercedes personnel.

The young Italian, who turned 20 last week, seems to have thrown pies in the faces of half the team at Brackley by this point. However, it's his race engineer Bono who's borne the brunt of the action.

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Antonelli has twice deactivated the veteran engineer's access card at the team's headquarters, leaving him unable to even visit the cafeteria on-site, smashed a pie into his face, and chased him around with a water gun.

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Antonelli: I might get destroyed!

Retribution has been swift and savage on multiple occasions, and Antonelli told F1.com that a combination of his recent reign of terror and his 20th birthday falling in an off-week has him absolutely prepared to be targeted at his home grand prix this weekend.

"I'm about to encounter a big payback!" he said. "It's going to be at Monza. I don't know if it's going to happen, but I can kind of expect it because [this] week is going to my birthday.

"Obviously, there's no races, so they can't get me on my birthday, so I can imagine they're going to probably get me at Monza. I'm already putting that on the back of my mind that I might get destroyed!"

Asked what else he was expecting from his second home grand prix in F1, he said: "I'm very excited. I think it's going to be a great atmosphere and it's going to be a lot different compared to last year.

"I'm definitely going in with a different attitude, different mindset, and definitely I feel like I'm going to be able to enjoy the weekend a lot more. I'm really looking forward to be back."

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F1 Mercedes Kimi Antonelli Italian Grand Prix