Kimi Antonelli has continued his light-hearted prank war with Mercedes race engineer Peter “Bono” Bonnington, this time by blocking Bonnington’s access card in a viral video shared by the team.
The playful exchange is the latest chapter in a running joke between Antonelli and Bonnington, who have developed one of the most entertaining driver-engineer relationships on the Formula 1 grid.
In the video, Antonelli is seen arranging for Bonnington’s access card to be blocked across the Mercedes facility. Smiling as the plan was put in motion, the Italian driver said he wanted the card to fail only when Bonnington tried to enter, with staff pretending they knew nothing about it.
When Bonnington eventually attempted to use the card, he quickly realised who was behind the prank and responded with a smile, saying Antonelli had done it again.
The prank battle between Antonelli and Bonnington began after the young Italian joined Mercedes as a full-time Formula 1 driver in 2025, taking over the seat vacated by Lewis Hamilton.
The first incident came during the Bahrain test, when Antonelli pushed a cream cake into Bonnington’s face on the engineer’s birthday. He later chased Bonnington through the paddock with a water gun, repeatedly soaking him.
Mercedes has now turned the ongoing prank war into a popular social media storyline, with fans reacting strongly to the latest clip. According to the source, the video had already reached 1.4 million views and 228,000 likes.
The reaction from fans has been largely positive, with many praising the chemistry between Antonelli and Bonnington. Loveral viewers highlighted how quickly Bonnington appeared to realise that Antonelli was behind the blocked access card.
Others described the pair as one of their favourite driver-engineer combinations on the current Formula 1 grid, while some called for a dedicated segment focused entirely on their pranks.
Beyond the jokes, Antonelli’s on-track form has also attracted major attention. The Mercedes driver currently leads the drivers’ championship by 20 points over team-mate George Russell.
Russell won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix and the Chinese sprint race, while Antonelli claimed victories in China, Japan and Miami. Those results made Antonelli the youngest driver to lead the Formula 1 drivers’ championship, according to the supplied report.
