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Mercedes teases Antonelli over rose-water podium struggle

GPBeat reports that Mercedes shared an X video of Kimi Antonelli struggling to spray alcohol-free rose water at the Sepang podium.

GPBeat · Newsroom06 Oct 2026, 08:00 · 1 min

Mercedes is teasing Kimi Antonelli over his difficulty with the rose-water spray at the Sepang podium. Motorsport.com reports that the team shared a video of the moment on X; all three podium finishers were given alcohol-free rose water in keeping with Bahrain Grand Prix tradition. The caption read: “You’d think he’d have gotten the hang of this by now!”

Antonelli finished second in the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, 2.307 seconds behind winner Max Verstappen after 55 laps at Sepang. Lewis Hamilton was third.

Sources 02
  1. SOURCEMercedes pokes fun at Kimi Antonelli after Bahrain GP podium blunderMotorsport.com F1
  2. PRIMARY SOURCEF1 – Verstappen wins dramatic Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia ahead of Antonelli and HamiltonFIA news and transcripts
Claims and supporting evidence 3
Motorsport.com reports that Antonelli struggled with the alcohol-free rose-water spray at the Sepang podium and that Mercedes shared a video of the moment on X with a teasing caption.

The report describes Antonelli’s difficulty, the rose-water tradition and Mercedes’ post, including its caption.

[1]
The caption reads as a light-hearted tease.

This is GPBeat’s characterization of the caption’s wording.

[1]
Verstappen won the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, with Antonelli second 2.307 seconds behind after 55 laps at Sepang and Hamilton third.

The FIA race report gives the winner, finishing order, margin and race distance.

[2]

This article was produced with AI assistance. Source references make its supporting evidence traceable.