Championship leader Antonelli spotted in Spider-Man mask watching Barcelona FP1 from the stands

Kimi Antonelli, the Formula 1 championship leader, appears to have watched Friday’s opening practice session at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix from the grandstands in disguise — sporting a black Mercedes hoodie and a Spider-Man mask — after being stood down from FP1 to allow Mercedes reserve driver Frederik Vesti to fulfil the series’ mandatory rookie running requirements.

Broadcast cameras panned to the masked figure seated among the crowd, and fans were quick to draw conclusions. The slight build, the unmistakably branded hoodie, and the child-sized superhero mask prompted a wave of reactions on social media. “I was straight up looking at this dude on the broadcast like, ‘the f***..?’ Did not realise at all that it’s Kimi,” one viewer wrote on Reddit.

The moment drew immediate comparisons to a similar stunt pulled by Antonelli’s team-mate George Russell, who attended FP1 at the 2025 Mexico Grand Prix wearing a traditional lucha libre wrestling mask while watching from the stadium section of the grandstands. “Same vibes as George with the luchador mask in Mexico last year,” one fan noted.

The disguise itself attracted as much attention as the identity behind it. “I love that they couldn’t give him a mask in adult size. Whose Spider-Man mask is that, Toto’s kid?” one commenter asked. Another offered a simpler solution: “Could have just worn sunglasses and a hat… and not a Mercedes sweater.” A third invoked the well-worn internet image of a towering figure poorly concealed behind a sapling: “Shaq hiding behind the tree meme vibes.”

Not everyone was convinced. A sceptical contingent argued the figure was simply a fan who had called in sick 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 user posted.

On track, Vesti completed his FP1 assignment in 15th place, while Russell set the fastest time of the session. Antonelli heads into the Spanish Grand Prix weekend with a commanding 66-point lead in the drivers’ championship. Russell sits third in the standings after seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton moved ahead of him following the Monaco Grand Prix.