Pirelli withdrew the original awards. Improvised with a tire replica | F1 Magazine – F1online.sk

Tire supplier Pirelli became the main partner of the US Grand Prix, which had special prizes designed for this occasion. He introduced them to the world surprisingly before the weekend, but we didn’t see them on stage after all. The problem should have been similar to other products.

Pirelli, in collaboration with the Italian artist Matteo Macchiavelli, created the cup, which was named Heroo. It was supposed to be an explanation of the relationship between “a racing car and its tyres, but at the same time being a work of art that combines elegance and pleasure, a sense of speed and the quality of materials used in single-seater Formula 1”.

The cup received an image of a figure with arms raised in a position of victory on the sole of a tyre. The individual pieces differed in the color of the helmet depending on who was to be awarded on stage. The winner was to take home a figure with a golden helmet, which was to be sprinkled with real gold powder. The pilots in the second and third row could look forward to a silver and titanium helmet. All this in a case made of carbon fiber.

Pirelli even wanted to offer the prizes in his e-shop to collectors and toy fans. However, they will definitely not get to this limited edition in the end. Pirelli unexpectedly withdrew everything.

Event sponsor for the portal motorsport.com He confirmed, along with the race organizer, that he decided to replace the trophies because he was aware that it was very similar to other products already on the market and would be at risk trademark infringement. Besides the fact that the character reminded many of a Lego figure or his Mickey Mouse helmet, it is also used on collectibles from the Bearbrick workshop.

In a quick summary, new awards were introduced to Pirelli from one of its offices in the US. So Charles Leclerc got a tall cylinder-shaped trophy, while Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen had to settle for replica Pirelli tires similar to those given to qualifying winners.

In order to forget about the whole thing as soon as possible, Pirelli even deleted the press release announcing his artistic work, including all the pictures and views, from the website.