On Saturday 13th December, Daytona Milton Keynes opened its doors for what was expected to be another packed afternoon of kart racing. Little did anyone know that a quiet young driver booked under the name ‘Henry Shovlin’ would be in attendance among the usual crowd of weekend racers. Strolling in incognito wearing a hoodie and cap, Shovlin sat in the corner through the safety briefing, lying low.

But when the lights turned green and the race began, it became clear that this was no ordinary driver. Post-race, when helmets came off and the grid realized they hadn’t been racing against the regular talent seen at a Daytona open race, the truth emerged. The disguise had been shed, and in Shovlin’s place, Kimi Antonelli was revealed. Looking to get some track time in during the off-season, Antonelli set the fastest lap of the session by a blistering three seconds in the main race, having already taken a commanding victory in the practice session where his average lap time was 10 seconds quicker than his closest competitor.

There has been plenty of speculation about the pseudonym ‘Henry Shovlin’, with fans suggesting that Antonelli may have taken inspiration from Mercedes chief engineer Andrew Shovlin. Given that there were three other Shovlins racing in the session, it seems unlikely to be just a coincidence. This is just one example of the many F1 pseudonyms that have surfaced over the years as drivers go undercover to race outside regular F1 programming. Max Verstappen famously used the alias Franz Hermann, (the most German name he could think of) while taking on GT3 cars at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Meanwhile, fellow rookie Ollie Bearman took the name Gerald Stevens during a recent visit to Daytona Sandown Park for a Quadrant video.

Now, Shovlin, or Antonelli we should say, sits on the Daytona Milton Keynes SODI leaderboard alongside fellow rookie Isack Hadjar, who bested his time of 1:24.5 with a 1:14.667. Fans have also been quick to spot Yuki Tsunoda with a 1:14.677 and Christian Horner posting a 1:10.300.

Regardless of lap times and the inevitable speculation about star comparisons, it was an absolute pleasure to host Antonelli and the wider Mercedes team of ‘Shovlins’. We eagerly await the return of the F1 grid to Melbourne in March, where we’ll be keeping a close eye to see if this off-season training translates into performance in the new and improved Mercedes cars.