One of the fun subplots of the 2026 F1 season has been the continuing vibe shift on one side of the Mercedes garage.

Long-time race engineer Peter 'Bono' Bonnington has gone from spending more than a decade working side by side with Lewis Hamilton, already a world champion by the time their working relationship began and a mature professional, to working with Kimi Antonelli.

While Antonelli's seriousness about his job is absolutely not in doubt – he's about to become the youngest ever world champion by some three years, which isn't something you achieve by accident – he does bring a little more youthful exuberance to the team than his predecessor.

One way that's come across is in his now infamous prank campaign against just about anyone with a three-pointed star on their gear, and another is more for Bono specifically.

Antonelli: Bono won't admit it, but he enjoys it

The 20-year-old Italian has revealed to The Athletic that he's working hard on breaking down his race engineer's reluctance to be hugged, saying: “As an Italian, I like to give hugs.

“After a great result, I like to go there and give him a hug. Last year he would get very tense at times; you could see he would tense up. But this year he actually enjoys it, because he knows he’s part of myself as well. He probably won’t admit it, but he does enjoy it.”

Antonelli's prank war has spread throughout almost the whole Mercedes garage at this point – although Bonnington is still his favourite target, whether that's with a high-powered water gun or something more sophisticated like getting his employee access card disabled at the team's Brackley base (twice).

As for retribution? “I prank so many people from the team that it could be coming from anyone," he admitted.

Team principal Toto Wolff hasn't been singled out yet, because Antonelli has some small sense of self-preservation, conceding: “This is next level. You need to have big balls to do that.

"But you know… (I’ve) got to finish well in the championship, and finish well this year so I have a reason to do it. Then he won’t complain too much about it. But that’s next level.”