Formula 1 fans are convinced that a masked figure spotted in the grandstands during the first practice session ahead of the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix was an undercover Kimi Antonelli.
The championship leader was replaced by Mercedes reserve driver Frederik Vesti in FP1 as part of the rookie driver requirements for each team.
As the cameras panned to someone in the crowd wearing a black Mercedes hoodie and a Spider-Man mask, fans have been quick to argue it looked a lot like the Italian driver.
"Same vibes as George with the luchador mask in Mexico last year," one fan commented on Reddit, referring to Antonelli's team-mate George Russell. The British driver also went undercover during FP1 at the 2025 Mexico Grand Prix, wearing a traditional lucha libre wrestling mask as he snuck into the stadium section of the grandstands to watch the on-track action.
Another fan added: "I love that they couldn’t give him a mask in adult size. Whose Spider-Man mask is that, Toto’s kid?"
"Could have just worn sunglasses and a hat...and not a Mercedes sweater," someone else posted, and another wrote: "Shaq hiding behind the tree meme vibes."
Further comments included: "He took the Tom Holland comparisons to heart lol," and "I was straight up looking at this dude on the broadcast like, 'the f***..?' Did not realise at all that it's Kimi."
Others disagreed and argued that it was just a fan who had lied to take the day off work to attend the race weekend. "Nah, mate clearly lied to his boss that he is sick, but he is smart enough to hide his face in the event of the camera catching him," one wrote, and another commenter posted: "He's taken a sick day off."
Vesti finished his FP1 outing with the 15th fastest time, while Antonelli's team-mate George Russell put in the fastest time.
Antonelli heads into the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix with an impressive 66-point lead in the championship. Russell now sits third in the standings after seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton overtook him following the Monaco Grand Prix.
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Originally published by motorsport.com —
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