Mattia Binotto on a red phone with text 'Pronto, zydson?' and 'SBinnala'

Sbinnala

2019catchphraseclassic

Published October 19, 2026

Sbinnala, also known as Sbinalla, is Formula One fan slang for a car spinning off the track, taken loosely from the Italian verb spinnare. Redditor Alphamaxnova1 brought it to /r/formuladank in September 2019 inside a parody team-radio skit that cuts to a driver crashing out. By mid-2020, YouTube compilations drawing hundreds of thousands of views had turned the B-emoji spelling s🅱️innala into the subreddit's standard word for any on-track flub.

slang memes subreddit origin memes f1 memes misspelling memes fail memes

Overview

Within /r/formuladank, posting sbinnala almost always means a car has gone off, usually attached to a GIF of a spin or wall tap from a race weekend1. Fans often spell the word with a 🅱️ emoji in place of the second letter, writing s🅱️innala or s🅱️inalla, which is one of the most common on-screen forms3.

When newer users ask what the word means, the running joke answer is "It's a meme from the future. You can't get the reference yet," a line regulars copy into comment threads to keep newcomers out of the gag4. The humor leans on the fake-Italian sound of spinnare, playing up F1's Italian heritage from Ferrari and Monza while describing something as unglamorous as a driver burying the car in the gravel.

Origin & Background

Platform
Reddit (r/formuladank) / YouTube (viral spread)
Creator
Alphamaxnova1
Date
2019

The earliest documented use came on September 10, 2019, when Redditor Alphamaxnova1 uploaded a parody team-radio clip to /r/formuladank in which a driver yells the word around the 22-second mark right before footage of a real spin1. That post also featured the s🅱️innala spelling with the Unicode B emoji, which stuck as a running visual gag in follow-up threads3.

How It Spread

Confusion from new subscribers helped spread the term. On November 4, 2019, Redditor martunas posted a thread titled "WHATS S🅱️INALLA MEAN? WHAT IS SBINALA?" that drew replies repeating the "meme from the future" line, with LTMG's top-voted answer leaning into the bit4.

Compilation videos moved it off Reddit. On December 17, 2019, YouTuber Raprada published a cut of Alphamaxnova1 and targetmisser clips that collected roughly 830,000 views and 23,000 likes2. Dacha44 followed on April 18, 2020, with another sbinnala compilation that gathered over 200,000 views and 8,800 likes5.

By summer 2020, the gag was leaking out of the subreddit. The Instagram account circuitzolder posted "By the power of the ancients… S🅱️inalla" on June 29, 2020, earning over 250 likes6, while Redditor adrianprytz's sbinalla image from the day before passed 3,100 upvotes on /r/formuladank7.

Timeline

2019-09-10

Redditor Alphamaxnova1 posts the earliest known use in a parody team-radio clip on /r/formuladank.

2019-11-04

Redditor martunas opens a thread asking what the word means, drawing the signature "meme from the future" replies.

2019-12-17

YouTuber Raprada uploads a sbinnala compilation that reaches around 830,000 views.

2020-04-18

YouTuber Dacha44 publishes a second compilation, passing 200,000 views.

2020-06-28

Redditor adrianprytz's sbinalla image clears 3,100 upvotes on /r/formuladank.

2020-06-29

Instagram account circuitzolder posts a "By the power of the ancients… S🅱️inalla" tribute.

How to Use This Meme

Fans typically caption a Formula One GIF of a car spinning out, locking up or beaching itself with the single word sbinnala, often stylized as s🅱️innala. When someone asks what it means, the convention is to reply "It's a meme from the future, you can't get the reference yet" instead of explaining the Italian etymology4.

Frequently Asked Questions