Have you seen it? Kimi Antonelli trolls Kim Kardashian over his stolen towel
Formula One: Kimi Antonelli's Monaco Grand Prix win shared the spotlight with a viral clip of Kim Kardashian using a towel laid out for him. The moment drew led to banter with the Mercedes driver joining in.
Kimi Antonelli won the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday. He also, apparently, lost a towel.
The 19-year-old Mercedes driver converted pole position into a commanding victory on the streets of Monte Carlo, his fifth consecutive win of the 2026 Formula One season. It extended his championship lead to 66 points, a margin that, in the modern era, no driver has held at this stage without going on to be crowned world champion.
The towel, however, went elsewhere.
In footage that quickly spread across social media, Kim Kardashian was seen walking past the top-three driver enclosure before picking up a neatly folded white towel positioned near the number one podium marker, an item laid out specifically for Antonelli by team mechanics. She wiped her forehead and sunglasses with the towel before walking away. The clip has since been viewed millions of times.
The 19-year-old driver was part of a cheeky social media post, launching a hunt for the towel that went missing after his victory.
"Have you seen my towel?" Kimi can be seen asking in a video shared by Mercedes.
Kardashian was in Monaco as the guest of Lewis Hamilton, her partner, making her first appearance at a Formula One event. Hamilton finished second, moving up to second place in the championship as George Russell's troubled afternoon — which ended with a penalty and a 12th-place finish — cost the Briton ground in the standings.
Hamilton was effusive about Kardashian's presence at the race.
"It's amazing to have her come this weekend and have the support," he said in the post-race press conference.
"It's amazing to have good people around you and good people supporting you, and she does that for me every day."
The towel incident, though, overshadowed much of the weekend's noise around her visit. F1 presenter Will Buxton was among those who called out what he described as an entitled moment.
"In what world do you live in where you walk up and just assume that somebody has placed a towel there for you?" Buxton said on his podcast. "Perhaps it might be for one of the drivers. It's just a small thing, but this level of entitlement is unreal."
There had already been an earlier flashpoint when Sky Sports presenter Martin Brundle attempted to speak to Kardashian during his traditional pre-race grid walk, only to be met with silence as her security detail moved him along.
For Antonelli, the weekend's off-track theatre did little to distract from what has been quite an extraordinary start to his sophomore season. Since his maiden victory at the Chinese Grand Prix in March, the Italian has been unstoppable, winning in Japan, Miami, Canada and now Monaco. At 19, he is on course to become the youngest world champion in history, a record that has stood since Sebastian Vettel claimed the title in 2010 at 23.
Kimi Antonelli won the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday. He also, apparently, lost a towel.
The 19-year-old Mercedes driver converted pole position into a commanding victory on the streets of Monte Carlo, his fifth consecutive win of the 2026 Formula One season. It extended his championship lead to 66 points, a margin that, in the modern era, no driver has held at this stage without going on to be crowned world champion.
The towel, however, went elsewhere.
In footage that quickly spread across social media, Kim Kardashian was seen walking past the top-three driver enclosure before picking up a neatly folded white towel positioned near the number one podium marker, an item laid out specifically for Antonelli by team mechanics. She wiped her forehead and sunglasses with the towel before walking away. The clip has since been viewed millions of times.
The 19-year-old driver was part of a cheeky social media post, launching a hunt for the towel that went missing after his victory.
"Have you seen my towel?" Kimi can be seen asking in a video shared by Mercedes.
Kardashian was in Monaco as the guest of Lewis Hamilton, her partner, making her first appearance at a Formula One event. Hamilton finished second, moving up to second place in the championship as George Russell's troubled afternoon — which ended with a penalty and a 12th-place finish — cost the Briton ground in the standings.
Hamilton was effusive about Kardashian's presence at the race.
"It's amazing to have her come this weekend and have the support," he said in the post-race press conference.
"It's amazing to have good people around you and good people supporting you, and she does that for me every day."
The towel incident, though, overshadowed much of the weekend's noise around her visit. F1 presenter Will Buxton was among those who called out what he described as an entitled moment.
"In what world do you live in where you walk up and just assume that somebody has placed a towel there for you?" Buxton said on his podcast. "Perhaps it might be for one of the drivers. It's just a small thing, but this level of entitlement is unreal."
There had already been an earlier flashpoint when Sky Sports presenter Martin Brundle attempted to speak to Kardashian during his traditional pre-race grid walk, only to be met with silence as her security detail moved him along.
For Antonelli, the weekend's off-track theatre did little to distract from what has been quite an extraordinary start to his sophomore season. Since his maiden victory at the Chinese Grand Prix in March, the Italian has been unstoppable, winning in Japan, Miami, Canada and now Monaco. At 19, he is on course to become the youngest world champion in history, a record that has stood since Sebastian Vettel claimed the title in 2010 at 23.
