During a talk with journalists before the start of the first free practice sessions, the young driver mentioned the monkey 'Punch', an animal that has been trending on social media in recent days. 'I know we all care a lot about Australian animals, but I care about Punch. He's my Roman Empire,' Colapinto joked, referring to the small primate who appears in thousands of videos online, according to Argentina News Agency. Who is Punch? Punch is a Japanese macaque who became famous on social media after images of him hugging a plush toy in his enclosure went viral. The animal lives at Ichikawa Zoo in Japan, and his story moved thousands of users because he was rejected by his mother at birth and had to be raised by caretakers. Since then, the little monkey Punch has become a viral phenomenon on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, where millions of people follow his videos. Don't you care about Punch? Buenos Aires, March 5 (NA) – On the eve of the Australian Grand Prix, the Argentine driver Franco Colapinto left a phrase that quickly went viral. The unexpected mention by Colapinto ahead of the Formula 1 activities added even more repercussion to the story of the animal who is already one of the internet's sensations.
