‘To Kimi from Kim’: Kardashian returns Antonelli’s stolen towel as F1 leader embraces meme moment
BARCELONA — The celebrity spotlight burned a little brighter on Formula 1 last weekend in Monaco due to the presence of reality TV star Kim Kardashian in the paddock.
Kardashian, 45, attended the race in support of seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton, with the pair reported to be dating since the start of the new year.
But the chatter around Kardashian has continued through to this weekend’s race in Barcelona after a video emerged of her taking the towel reserved for Monaco winner Kimi Antonelli at the podium ceremony.
While passing the box that was set aside for Antonelli to place his helmet after the race — introduced back in 2020 to help social distancing guidelines in the Covid-19 pandemic — Kardashian picked up the towel reserved for the 19-year-old world championship leader and patted it on her face.
Kim Kardashian caminhando pelo paddock após o pódio do Grand Prix de Mônaco. pic.twitter.com/b0BrqONCb9
— Access Kardashian (@accesskardash) June 8, 2026
Antonelli won his fifth straight race in Monaco to open up a 66-point lead at the top of the world championship over Hamilton.
After the video gained traction on social media in the days following Monaco, Mercedes was quick to lean into the meme.
During a shoot for a team partner, Mercedes filmed a video of Antonelli washing his hands before turning to the camera and asking: “Hey, have you seen my towel?”
Mercedes kept the gag going by posting another video on its accounts from media day on Thursday where Antonelli said he was still looking for his towel.
Antonelli was even asked in the official FIA news conference on Thursday ahead of the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix if he had yet found the towel, to which he replied: “No, still looking for it.”
At the end of second practice at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Friday, the TV cameras showed a Mercedes team member holding a towel that had a gift ribbon around it as Antonelli got out of his car.
The white towel was embroidered with black text reading: “To Kimi from Kim.”
Soon after practice, Antonelli’s Instagram account posted a video of the Italian again asking “Where is my towel?” before being handed the gift from Kardashian and putting it around his neck, then saying: “Thank you Kim!”
In another video posted by F1, Antonelli asked a team member if the towel was actually from Kardashian and was told: “It is actually from her!”
It marked a happy end to a quirky F1 story that has bred plenty of social media material in recent days, and even sparked a question to Hamilton on Thursday.
Hamilton was initially confused when he was asked by a reporter if he might be able to help Antonelli find his towel, before being told that Kardashian had taken it. “I don’t know anything about it,” he said.
Hamilton publicly addressed his relationship with Kardashian for the first time after the race in Monaco, saying it was “amazing” to have her on-site in Monaco.
He spoke of the importance of having “good people around you and good people supporting you,” adding: “She does that for me every day.” After the Monaco race weekend, Hamilton also uploaded a picture of Kardashian holding his race helmet to his Instagram account.
The seven-time F1 world champion has made a strong start to the new season, bouncing back from a difficult first year with Ferrari in 2025 to already score three podium finishes this year. Hamilton has finished second to Antonelli in the last two races in Canada and Monaco.
