Formula 1 fans have been left in stitches after Carlos Sainz dropped his last-minute trophy replacement at the United States Grand Prix.

Sainz finished second in Austin, Texas, 8.562 seconds behind winner and Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc.

Sainz tried to step off the podium with his trophyX:@SAINZLOVERS

The proceeded to drop it and it roll to the frontX:@SAINZLOVERS

He slowly walked over to pick it upX:@SAINZLOVERS

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took third, while British McLaren driver Lando Norris came in fourth.

But the podium celebrations were tainted by a trophy mess up by tyre providers Pirelli.

As Sainz stood in second place to celebrate, he lifted a Pirelli Wind Tunnel Tyre awarded after finishing in pole position in qualifying.

Now, unseen footage shows that he dropped the tyre during the celebrations, leaving it to roll all the way to the front of the stage.

He then nonchalantly strolled to pick it up off the ground.

Pirelli had hyped up the newly-designed ‘Heroo’ trophies that would be given to podium finishers after every race – humanoid forms with black bodies and articulated arms, with gold, silver and titanium helmets for first, season and third place.

But in the end, those gongs were never seen.

According to reports, the company, in conjunction with the FIA, had become aware that the trophy was very similar to other designs – notably collector toys BearBrick, as well as the ears of a certain famous cartoon mouse – and so decided to pull them from use.

As a result, Sainz and Verstappen had to lift qualifying tyres.

Leclerc, meanwhile, held up a tube-like trophy Pirelli had flown in at the last minute.

Sainz held Ferrari’s tyre trophy aloft before dropping itGetty

And fans on social media were left cracking up at Sainz dropping his tyre piece.

“THE WAY HE DROPPED THE TYRE TROPHY HELPPPP HE FIND IT SO UGLY,” one wrote on X, alongside laughing faces.

A second said: “my new favourite video of him. THIS IS SO FUNNY HELP.”

“This & his face when he received the trophy was so funny lmao he let his intrusive thoughts win,” a third added.

Whilst Sainz’ trophy bounced off the floor with ease, Norris once wasn’t so lucky.

He famously smashed Verstappen’s trophy at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

After bashing his champagne bottle on the floor to pop the cork to spray his opponents, he sent Verstappenan’s first-place trophy crashing to the ground and shattering into pieces.

And just like Sainz’ trophy drop this weekend, F1 fans and Norris both found the incident hilarious.