Christmas is coming: time to give gifts!

In an old, once very popular Soviet song on international themes there were the following lines: “Danube, Danube, well, find out where whose gift is!” Perhaps some of you will remember this song if you watch a funny video on the official website of the championship dedicated to the coming Christmas.

But since this is not so easy to do, here is its content. The idea of ​​the plot, traditionally titled “Secret Santa,” is exactly this: “Where is whose gift?” The racers give each other something, and you have to guess who was the author of the gift. Since it took place during the season finale in Abu Dhabi, where it’s warm all year round, the overall atmosphere isn’t exactly Christmassy and the Santa hats on the racers look a bit strange, but these are details. Let’s move on to the most important thing.

Fernando Alonso was playing with something wrapped in dark red paper in his hands, rustling the wrapping and mumbling, “Hmm, I have no idea what it is… A strange shape, I can’t guess. Let’s see…”

Inside was a white captain’s cap with a black band and a peak decorated with gold braid. The cap is written: “Captain”.

“Great! – Fernando laughed when he saw the cap. – This is for the yacht I got last summer. The yacht in Monaco means a gift from someone who saw it there. One of them is George Russell, the second is Valtteri Bottas…”

And when he found out that Lance Stroll had given him the cap, he was surprised and delighted at the same time, put it on and put his hand on the visor, as captains do when they peer into the sea.

Lance guessed from the shape and size of the package that he had received a T-shirt or something similar.

‘Maybe underwear? – this was a different version. – I hope there will be some interesting underwear… Oh, it turns out there is a ski hat for cold winters, and we have cold winters in Canada! So here is number 22. Who wears this number? I have a bad memory for numbers…”

The third time, Lance realized that Yuki Tsunoda had given him the hat. The first two versions were wrong: he mentioned Valtteri Bottas and Oscar Piastri.

Yuki not only turned the package in his hands, which might as well have contained a book or a box of chocolates, for example, but even smelled it.

“I can’t guess from the smell,” he said and started unpacking. – Oh, I like this! There are two gifts here: a cookbook and an apron for cooking!”

Since the apron depicts a classic Chinese dragon, Yuki guessed that the gift was from Guanyu Zhou: “Thank you for the nice gifts! I will definitely try to cook a Chinese dish! And then I’ll tell you what happened.’

Guanyu Zhou received something small and he assumed it was a calendar.

“That’s because my partner here recently released his own special calendar!” – Zhou laughed, referring to Valtteri Bottas’ charity project, for which he was photographed in the Adam costume. And he was right, but only in the sense that there was just such a calendar. I didn’t guess who exactly gave it, though; it turned out to be Charles Leclerc.

Charles, who had torn open the packaging of a reasonably sized box, saw the logo of a sports brand to which Fernando Alonso is directly related.

‘Well, of course, I knew that! – he exclaimed. – Thank you, Fernando! But what’s in the box?.. Cool! It’s a padel racket! A really good gift! Usually you expect someone to give you something funny, but I really like these kinds of gifts. Soon I can fight Fernando!”

Pierre Gasly received a box that, judging by its shape, might contain a bottle, which he immediately accepted. But he didn’t guess: when he saw that it was a tripod for selfies or other forms of photography using a phone, he burst out laughing.

It turns out that one of the strange nicknames he once had sounded exactly like that: “tripod.”

“Yes, it’s a tripod – now I have another tripod,” said the Alpine rider. “But anyone could have given it.” Is this Nico Hulkenberg? Awesome! He has a good sense of humor, so I’m not surprised. I will try to find the best use of your gift!”

Nico opened the package and found a mug with a gaping smiley face on it.

“I love sulking! I’m sure it’s from Esteban Ocon! – he said smiling. – Thanks friend! I’m taking this mug home. Coffee from a mug with an emoji like that tastes even better!”

Esteban even received three gifts. In one there was a bottle with the image of Spider-Man, the hero of famous comics and films, and in the second there was a beautiful toiletry bag, also decorated with photos from the Marvel studio. The third contains a neck pillow for travel.

“Oh, now I have a complete traveler set! – said a satisfied Esteban, who has long been known to be fond of Marvel comics. – But whose is the gift? Maybe from Lance? No? From Pierre? No? Who could it be…Kevin?”

Overall, Okon never realized that George Russell gave him all this.

The Mercedes driver shook a box near his ear, in which something was hanging.

“Something’s rattling, even jumping,” George said and started unpacking. “Honestly, it’s a cool toy!”

There was a funny Santa Claus in the box – round and plump, on thin legs and with a special spring, which makes him jump on the table.

“Usually they give you all this crap and you throw it away straight away, but I’ll probably even keep this to myself for a while! When I saw this Santa’s mustache, I thought Valtteri gave it to him. No? Maybe Lance?..”

It turned out that the gift was from Kevin Magnussen.

In turn, Kevin, who, as you know, is a young father and often takes his little daughter to the races, received a children’s T-shirt with the following inscription: “Quiet! I watch the races with my dad!”

But there was another gift: a guide for travelers planning a trip to the United States.

“I believe this belongs to Logan Sargent!” – Kevin guessed it.

Sargent was given a children’s basketball set: a small ball and a hoop into which he had to throw it. The American Williams driver suggested that the gift was from one of the two Alpine drivers, but missed. It turned out to be Lando Norris’s.

Lando received a hefty but suspiciously light box. It was easy because…it turned out to be empty. Well, not completely empty of course: there was a note inside showing that the ordered gift had not been delivered on time, but would certainly be delivered later in Woking at the McLaren base.

Lando suggested it had to be something for golfing, so only Lance Stroll, Carlos Sainz or Pierre Gasly could give it as a gift. The third version turned out to be correct.

“Do not lose hope!” – came the voice of Pierre from somewhere above, who was watching this scene from the roof of a neighboring building.

Alex Albon looked at the box carefully before opening the gift wrapping and assumed it must contain something of high quality. There were six golf balls in it, but not regular ones, but with the personal logo of the Williams driver. Alex thought, smiled and rightly named the donor: Oscar Piastri. “This is one of the best gifts I have ever received!” – he noted.

Oscar received a chocolate set and a black T-shirt with a picture of a koala.

“This is clearly coming from someone who knows I’m Australian,” the Melbourne resident joked. – But I happen to know that my “Secret Santa” was Daniel Ricciardo! Thank you Daniel, I appreciate it!”

“Heavy box! – said Ricciardo. “Oh, this is not the first time I get alcoholic drinks at Christmas!” I even know who it is from. Moreover, judging by the bottle, this tequila was released in limited edition.. .”

It was not so difficult to guess, because the container was in a beautiful and bright metal box with the Sergio Perez logo: “Thank you, Sergio! I really like tequila!”

Sergio received two boxes of medium size, but with different shapes: one was wrapped in blue paper, the other in red. It turned out that the flatter one had an inscription on it: Williams Racing.

“Yeah, so it’s Alex’s or Logan’s,” the Mexican Red Bull racer reasoned, looking at the funny teddy bear inside. “They know I’m a dad, so this is for my kids!”

The box also contained a children’s T-shirt and hat with the Williams logo. And the second gift was intended for Sergio himself: acid bright green sneakers.

“Not my style, but I like it! – said Perez. – I think it’s Alex’s. Thanks for the gifts, Alex! I wish you and your whole family a Merry Christmas!”

Valtteri Bottas received an unusual gift. As he weighed it in his hand, he guessed it was a book. Under the packaging was a lavishly produced photo album dedicated to… how can I put this mildly… In general, the album tells how artists of different times and peoples depicted the so-called “fifth point”. The book notably contained photographs of Bottas himself as he was photographed for the aforementioned calendar.

“There are even photos of me here! I think it’s really creative!” – Valtteri laughed and guessed from the characteristic dedication inscription that it was from Max Verstappen.

The three-time world champion also began his introduction to the gift with a dedicatory inscription that read: “Since you, like me, love the old-fashioned circuits, I hope you will appreciate this traditional gift!”

They gave him a set of 152 classic games. “It must be from Fernando!” – Verstappen started confidently, but missed. The author of the gift was another Spaniard, Carlos Sainz.

Carlos, who opened the box with the gift, couldn’t help but laugh: “Oh, this is dangerous!”

First he got a huge pink swimsuit with hot red peppers on it.

‘It’s probably from Valtteri! He likes that kind of thing!” – suggested the Spanish Ferrari driver. The swimsuit came with a box containing small containers, and Carlos didn’t immediately realize what was inside: it turned out to be a set of spicy sauces. Overall, Bottas really gave him all this.

But when Sainz was asked if he would wear such swimming trunks, he said honestly: “No.”

It should be added that Lewis Hamilton, like last year, did not participate in these competitions.