Imagination, intuition, quick thinking, and execution speed. Formula 1 drivers use these skills on the track to shave off a tenth of a second in every corner, and off the track to play pranks on their colleagues.

Once the helmet is off, some prefer to relax, retreating to their motorhomes, alone or with family. Others, however, can’t wait to have fun and often do so by playing pranks on teammates or other team members. We’ve selected some of the best pranks both on and off the track.

Berger to Senna: Those Unexpected Jumps
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Gerhard Berger is the driver who spent the most time as Ayrton Senna’s teammate in Formula 1: together, they raced for three seasons with McLaren equipped with Brembo brakes, from 1990 to 1992, for a total of 48 Grand Prix races. Their rapport was evident even to a casual observer, and they left us with countless anecdotes.

 

Once, during a helicopter flight not far from the Monza circuit, the Austrian threw the Brazilian’s carbon fiber briefcase, which he had boasted about being indestructible, out of the helicopter. Another memorable incident was a trip to Australia where Berger filled Senna’s hotel room with a dozen frogs.

Perez and the Pit: What Goes Around Comes Around
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In 2011, Sergio Perez made his Formula 1 debut with the Ferrari-powered Sauber. In his first 14 GPs, he scored points on only three occasions. In Japan, despite qualifying 17th, he managed to climb to eighth place thanks to two pit stops and careful tire management.

 

On the last lap, however, he started shouting over the radio: “I have no power, I have no power,” but his race engineer replied: “Go to the finish, keep pushing.” After crossing the finish line in 8th place, Checo burst into laughter: “Ha ha ha, I was joking.” The engineer then told him that Kamui Kobayashi, Perez’s teammate, had finished 4th instead of 13th. The Mexican asked for an explanation until they told him that he had been pranked in return.

Lauda to a Journalist: Don’t Look at Me, I Can’t Hear You
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Despite the suffering from the accident at the old Nurburgring in the summer of 1976, the late Niki Lauda was a man of spirit. Moreover, the previous year, he had been the first to win a championship with Brembo brakes while driving a Ferrari.

 

On the occasion of the release of the film Rush in 2013, the Austrian returned to the scene of the accident, at the Bergwerk corner, with a U.S. television crew. When the journalist asked him how he felt, he shared his thoughts, then glanced at the grass nearby, bent down, and picked up an object: “Look what’s here? My ear.” The cameraman and the woman were stunned. In reality, Niki was holding a cookie that he had hidden shortly before.

Piquet to Mansell: The Best on Paper
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Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell were teammates in 1986 and 1987 at Williams Honda, which at the time was the best car on the grid. The third-to-last race of their partnership was the 1987 Mexican Grand Prix.

 

During practice sessions, the Brazilian noticed that the Briton was returning to the pits too often due to intestinal problems. Piquet made all the toilet paper in the team’s bathrooms disappear, but his colleague only discovered this once he was seated on the toilet. It seems that Mansell reacted with a lion’s roar, fittingly his nickname. Nigel got his revenge by winning the Grand Prix, which was stopped on lap 30 to clear debris from the track and then restarted. A weekend marked by liberation.

Alesi and Berger to Todt: A U-Turn, or Rather a Y-Turn
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After Senna, Berger became Jean Alesi’s teammate at Ferrari from 1993 to 1995. The Frenchman recounted that one day they were in Maranello, and the Austrian asked him for a ride to Fiorano. However, Alesi didn’t have a car, so they borrowed Jean Todt’s Y10, who was the Director of Scuderia Ferrari at the time.

 

For a challenge, Jean Alesi drove at full speed with Berger egging him on by pulling the handbrake. As they entered the track, they flipped the car, but the mechanics got it back on its wheels and covered it with a tarp. The drivers got away with a scolding from Todt. Using the brake inappropriately could have caused them harm. Safety is no joke, even when using Brembo braking systems.