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The Maranello outfit leaned straight into Leclerc’s Mario Kart ‘mushroom’ joke with a cheeky social media post that left fans in stitches.
(Credit: X/ScuderiaFerrariHP)
When Charles Leclerc compared his new car’s overtaking skill to grabbing a Mario Kart mushroom at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, the internet had a field day.
Ferrari clearly did too.
The Maranello outfit leaned straight into the joke with a cheeky social media post that left fans in stitches.
In the clip, Leclerc appears to press a mysterious combination of buttons on his steering wheel before the screen cuts to a static image of the iconic video game.
As the camera zooms in, it swings back to the Monegasque driver, who raises his eyebrows with perfect comic timing.
“‘This is like a mushroom in Mario Kart.’ Now we know why…” Ferrari wrote alongside the clip.
Verstappen Fires ‘Red Shell’ At FIA
Leclerc’s “mushroom” has effectively turned into Max Verstappen’s red shell to fire at the sport’s rulemakers.
The four-time world champion has been among the loudest critics of F1’s new era, which places far greater emphasis on energy management due to the near 50-50 split between internal combustion and electric power in the latest power units.
Speaking at the Shanghai Grand Prix press conference, Verstappen leaned fully into the gaming comparison.
“I swapped the simulator for my Nintendo Switch,” he joked. “I’m practising with Mario Kart, actually. Finding the mushrooms is going quite well, the blue shells are a bit more difficult.”
Others Chime In
Verstappen isn’t alone in questioning the direction of the sport.
Lando Norris warned that energy-heavy racing could become chaotic, with drivers constantly swapping positions depending on battery levels. Esteban Ocon described the new generation of cars as “painful” to drive.
Even Cadillac driver Sergio Perez chimed in during the Shanghai media day, echoing Verstappen’s Mario Kart comparison.
March 12, 2026, 18:45 IST
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