Japan Formula 1 GP's Podium Finishers To Receive Kiss-Activated Trophies

The trophies at this year's Japanese Grand Prix are going to be lit, literally. The title sponsor of the race, Lenovo, asked Pininfarina of America to create trophies that will celebrate the podium finishers' nationalities, activated by a kiss.

According to Pininfarina, the trophies are shaped like the air intake on an F1 car and embellished with a parametric pattern similar to the Lenovo logo.

Each trophy will be equipped with a touch-sensitive microswitch connected to a "complex array of LED lights." The trophy will display the winner's flag color combinations when they kiss the trophy. There will be a series of subtle light guides that will show the driver where to kiss the trophy to activate the display.

The required flags will be loaded onto the trophies just before the podium ceremony.

Pininfarina is known for some of the best automotive designs in history, not necessarily limited to car exteriors. The American branch handles product, industrial, architectural, interior, nautical, and aviation design. Its most famous global designs include Istanbul's Grand Airport, the Juventus Stadium, and Coca-Cola's Freestyle vending machines, but its latest striking design in the automotive space comes from its manufacturing arm, Automobili Pininfarina. The Battista is a stunning and stupidly fast electric hypercar that has a lot in common with the Rimac Nevera. Automobili Pininfarina has unveiled three versions of the vehicle so far, and the B95 is the most stunning of the lot.

Basically, Pininfarina knows its way around a sketchpad.

The Japanese Grand Prix is already underway, with both FP1 and FP2 done and dusted. Despite an atrocious outing at the Malaysian Grand Prix, Red Bull is back on top. Max Verstappen topped the timesheet in both sessions, with Charles Leclerc and Land Norris hot on his heels.

Red Bull knew well in advance that their car would underperform in Singapore, and several theories have emerged since. The most believable one we've heard so far is that RBR had to increase the ride height to keep the plank underneath the car from wearing out. Red Bull runs an extremely low setup, and Malaysia's street circuit would have worn it down to nothing by the end of the race, resulting in the car being declared illegal.

With that in mind, they might as well start loading the Dutch colors on the winning trophy. Equally important is keeping this work of art as far away as possible from trophy killer Lando Norris.