Secret Santa Claus It is the invisible friendly game that Formula 1 organizes among the drivers Christmas since 2017 and in this edition, with Franco Colapinto Since he was present like the previous year, he left funny gifts, some specially thought out and others completely random, disappointing those who received them.
Let’s start with the Argentine who took a piece of paper with his name out of a red Santa Claus hat during the Brazilian Grand Prix Oliver Bearman. The Englishman finally received his gift on the last date in Abu Dhabi and had no trouble guessing that Colapinto had been his Secret Santa Claus: a black t-shirt with a bear (based on his last name) with an Argentinian t-shirt.
What did they give the 22-year-old Buenos Aires native instead? A Funko Pop -these collectible figures famous for their design with big heads and big eyes of well-known characters- his invisible friend, Yuki TsunodaThe driver, who will no longer be part of the starting grid in 2026, will be replaced at Red Bull by Isack Hadjar. “I would like one of these…mine of course,” said the man from Pilar.
Last year, Colapinto was given some sand and a puzzle of the Spanish driver by Carlos Sainz, who was set to take his place at Williams. What the Pilar native did then was build a Formula 1 car in the colors of Argentina for the Madrid native, and he threw away the red plasticine that alluded to the color of Ferrari and said: “Carlos won’t need it anymore.”
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The most original gift was without a doubt this Nico Hülkenberg is fond of Fernando Alonso: a stickbecause the 44-year-old Spaniard is the oldest of the 20 drivers competing in Formula 1 and will turn 22 next year with the addition of Checo Pérez and Valtteri Bottas to the Cadillac team.
There were some lazier invisible friendswho took advantage of their team’s sponsors: George Russell and Kimi Antonelli. The Englishman gave Hülkenberg a German team jersey with the number 63 (worn by the Mercedes driver) and the nickname Hulk, while the Italian also used the sports brand with the three stripes to give Pierre Gasly an Italian team bag with various items for playing paddle tennis, a sport very popular among the members of the Big Circus. Meanwhile, the Japanese received a table tennis game from Gabriel Bortoleto.
“Thanks for nothing!” 😅
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A repeated gift was books: Charles Leclerc received a title from Gasly “How do you become a good husband?” in reference to his recent engagement to Alexandra Saint-Mleux, while Alonso gifted Alex Albon a Spanish kitchen. “Who gave me a damn book? You know I don’t like reading”complained Brazilian Bortoleto as he opened his package containing a volume of French cuisine that Esteban Ocon had bought him. “Do a Tik Tok every day”Ultimately, it was the title Bearman chose for Liam Lawson, who he also gave a selfie stick to.
Exactly, in the only exchange between teammates of F1 Christmas’s invisible friend, Lawson bought Hadjar a Alarm clock because he is usually late to every meeting with members of the Racing Bulls. While the Frenchman was Carlos Sainz’s secret Santa Claus, who complained that his package was too small and when he opened it he found a headband and two bracelets with the Spanish flag. Perhaps the complaint was that his gift was very generous: he gave Lance Stroll a set of paddles and a beach ball, sunscreen and a sun hat.
What did world champion Lando Norris receive? A poster with the picture of his friend Alex Albon when he was a boy. “It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s adorable. Is it Mr. Albon’s? For those who don’t know, Alex used to be my hero. I had a big poster of him driving in my room, this will replace it now.”said the Englishman, who in turn gave Antonelli a pillow in the shape of a Michael Jordan with the Italian driver’s face and a scale McLaren of Ayrton Senna.
Oscar Piastri, the other man on the Papaya team, gave Ocon a set for a Spiderman fan (a special UNO card deck and an allusive car) and received from Stroll – whose name was on the packaging, so he shouldn’t have guessed – a pair of socks and some Tim-Tam cookies, popular in Australia
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