Kimi Antonelli has stunned his Mercedes colleagues by arriving at the factory with his curly hair dyed red, white and green, in the order of the Italian flag, to celebrate winning the Formula One world championship.
The 20-year-old is Italy's first F1 drivers' champion since 1953 and only the third man from his country in the history of the world championship to win the sport's ultimate prize. He turned up to Mercedes' base in Brackley on Wednesday with the new hairdo, honouring a promise he made earlier in the year.
Team-mates and staff react
Footage put out by the team shows staff reacting to the sight of their world champion driver with multicoloured locks. Team-mate George Russell followed Antonelli in through the main entrance and smirked as he watched Antonelli climb the stairs ahead of him. A staff member then asked the Brit what he thought of the style, to which Russell said: "What is going on? Ah... that is something."
Antonelli then turned to his team-mate with a smile and said: "It's bold, right?" He then continued to greet colleagues who all wore big smiles as they glanced at what the racer had done to the top of his head.
Wolff left speechless
The footage then shows Antonelli walk into a room to greet team principal Toto Wolff, who was speechless for several seconds and could do nothing but smile, prompting his driver to burst out laughing and say: "I was waiting for that."
Wolff then double-checked that it was the Italian flag, before giving both his drivers a hug and asking Antonelli if he had been paid to do it. The real reason why he did it, though, was to honour a promise he made earlier in the year.
Title-winning promise
Antonelli was first considered a real title contender during an early-season streak which saw him win five Grands Prix in a row. He later vowed to dye his hair with the Italian tricolor if he went on to become F1's youngest ever champion and has now followed through on that promise.
The footage of Antonelli sporting his new hairdo also caught fans by surprise. Mercedes posted the video on their official accounts with the caption: "Kimi did it. He actually did it." The clip has been shared thousands of times including by many who pointed out the resemblance to the Cars movie character Guido, a small blue forklift which at one point dons a wig in the colours of the Italian flag.
Many others found Wolff's reaction funny, while more latched on to what another Mercedes staff member said at the end of the clip when they asked Russell if he would also dye his hair in the colours of the Union Flag. One fan amusingly asked: "Did his parents allow it?" referring to Antonelli's relatively young age.
Next races ahead
The 20-year-old is back working in the UK at Mercedes' base having spent a few days at home in Italy for the first time since being crowned world champion. He sealed the title at the Mexico City Grand Prix earlier this month but went straight on to Brazil for the next race in Sao Paulo the following weekend.
He and his Mercedes colleagues now have a weekend without needing to travel, before heading back across the Atlantic to Las Vegas for the first race of the final triple-header to round off the season. After the race in Sin City, they will head to the Middle East after F1 chiefs confirmed the season will end in Qatar and then Abu Dhabi despite months of doubt over those events due to ongoing conflict in the region.
