Bahrain testing can be a strange little bubble: long runs, sand in the wind, engineers staring at laptops like they’re trying to read tea leaves. And then, in the middle of it, you get a reminder that F1 teams are still, at heart, groups of people who spend far too much time together.
Mercedes provided that moment this week when Peter “Bono” Bonnington’s birthday rolled around in the garage — and Kimi Antonelli, now fully comfortable enough in his new surroundings to cause trouble, decided it couldn’t pass without a prank.
Antonelli has history here. Last year, on the first birthday of their working relationship to land in-season, he went for the classic: cream cake, plate, face. This time, during 2026 pre-season running in Bahrain, he waited a day and upgraded to a water gun, catching Bonnington in a soaking that was equal parts schoolyard and paddock theatre.
The twist was that Bonnington wasn’t in the mood to be the straight man again.
Mercedes’ own footage captured the change in dynamic almost immediately: Antonelli’s face giving him away, that slightly-too-loud bravado of someone who knows a payback is coming. Bonnington appeared in pursuit holding a fire extinguisher — not subtle, not exactly reassuring — and Antonelli bolted. He got away, briefly, only to run into Bonnington again in a corridor, now empty-handed and wearing the calm expression of a man who’s already decided how this ends.
“No it’s okay, enough, enough,” Antonelli protested. “You are making a plan. I don’t like this.”
He wasn’t wrong, and the timing couldn’t have been better for a cameo from one of Bonnington’s most successful former partners. Lewis Hamilton, now in Ferrari red, stopped by the Mercedes set-up and wandered straight into the scene, greeted by Antonelli like a co-conspirator arriving at exactly the wrong moment.
Antonelli, still clutching the water gun, started explaining what had happened and even fired another squirt at a passing team member, because of course he did. Hamilton’s curiosity immediately kicked in.
“I love this thing,” Hamilton said, inspecting it and asking whether it was electronic. Antonelli confirmed it wasn’t, and for a few seconds it looked like Hamilton might just adopt the whole device.
Instead, Bonnington used the distraction like a seasoned operator. While Antonelli was busy chatting, Bonnington swooped in and grabbed the water gun — and Hamilton, perhaps sensing the mischief, conveniently ended up between them, acting as Antonelli’s human shield as the youngster tried to work out how his situation had deteriorated so quickly.
Then came the softer note, because F1 always does this: it’s never just one thing. Hamilton and Bonnington embraced, the old Mercedes pairing still evidently close after everything they achieved together. Hamilton wished him a belated happy birthday. For a moment, the whole scene looked like a neat little snapshot of the sport’s shifting era — Hamilton now the visitor, Bonnington still a constant, and Antonelli the new centre of gravity in that side of the garage.
But nobody was letting Antonelli off with a sentimental fade-out.
Bonnington’s actual revenge plan had already been put in motion, quietly and with the sort of patience that suggests he’s been waiting a while for the right opening. Hot sauce, slipped into Antonelli’s water bottle.
It didn’t take long.
After a few sips, Antonelli’s reaction was immediate: coughing, spluttering, and an X-rated realisation that he’d just been comprehensively outplayed. Hamilton, watching it unfold with the glee of someone no longer responsible for the consequences inside that garage, offered precisely the kind of sympathy you’d expect.
“No water man. Just deal with it man!” Hamilton told him, as Antonelli tried to recover.
Antonelli, not built for spice by his own admission, was soon in full distress. “I hate spice. I can’t eat spice,” he said. Moments later: “Man, I’m literally sweating. My chest is burning.”
Bonnington’s closing line was as neat as the prank itself. “Live by the sword. Die by the sword.”
It’s easy to dismiss this stuff as social-media filler, but it’s also revealing in small ways. Antonelli is clearly at the stage where he’s not just fitting into Mercedes — he’s pushing at the edges of it, testing how much room he has to be himself. And Bonnington, long seen as the calm voice in Hamilton’s ear through title fights and crisis Sundays, showed he’s got plenty of bite left when the target is standing right in front of him with a water gun.
Most of all, it was a reminder that even in the most data-heavy week of the year, the paddock still runs on relationships. Old ones don’t disappear just because a driver changes colours, and new ones form quickly when you’re living out of the same garage for 20-plus races a season.
Antonelli might still be learning the Mercedes way on track. Off it, he’s learned something else already: don’t leave your water bottle unattended around Bono.
