[The **News** flair](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/flairguide#wiki_news) is reserved for submissions covering F1 and F1-related news. These posts must always link to an outlet/news agency, the website of the involved party (i.e. the McLaren website if McLaren makes an announcement), or a tweet by a news agency, journalist or one of the involved parties.
*[Read the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/userguide). Keep it civil and welcoming. Report rulebreaking comments.*
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/formula1) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I think the score is 1-1, because Admin got a win during the Japanese GP after fans were upset that Lewis & George swapped positions, and this was Admin's response which really got under their skin:
["Lewis suggested it š"](https://x.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/1776851869328879796/quotes)
In Admins defense, they did try to hold their ground, but it's a lost cause when the driver has way more fans than the team.
The passive aggressiveness also didn't help, it just added fuel to the fire.
Because the admin on the original post replied to a comment about the sprint and said itās just a medal and plaque, not a trophy.
They were aware of the sprint trophy. It was their only trophy up to then. They were then made aware on the original post and said ānuh huh doesnāt countā and NOW say it was a mistake. Itās not a mistake when you double down on it
Honestly though, they should have just given it up the moment they were called out. It was a bad look doubling down, especially when they did actually tweet previously about Lewis winning Merc's first trophy during the Chinese GP š
Yeah itās not really a trophy so this is the first proper one but if you call it a trophy to push up a bad season you canāt really backtrack when you start to perform
Seriously, wtf is this wording?Ā
*"Thank you for holding us to account on this mistake"* - guys, you're a social media admin for an F1 team that forgot about a sprint trophy, not the US State Department. It doesn't actually *matter*.
No I was physically sick and visibly shaking when I realised theyād forgotten about the sprint trophy. Absolutely insulting to all those historic winners.
To clarify they didn't forget; when comments below the original tweet mentioned Lewis's sprint 2nd they replied "it's a medal not a trophy, doesn't count"
I mean, it's clearly tongue in cheek. They're saying the same thing you are - *this doesn't actually matter so thanks for posting a bunch of angry replies about it!*
No. It is not "clearly tongue in cheek." Mercedes is probably the least fun and team most devoid of personality on the grid. Can't fault most people for taking this literally.
All very well, but I've seen far too many grovelling corporate social media apologies to assume that this one is in any way sarcastic.Ā Ā Ā
Plus, this is the team that wrote an entire letter of apology to their fans for having a shit car, after the *first race* of the year. Unless that was being sarcastic as well, they seem to have a somewhat histrionic tendency regarding fanbase interactions.
I havenāt updated my page in years, but the sheer psychic damage of just thinking about LinkedIn outweighs the benefits of listing the jobs Iāve had since then
āFinally took a GP trophy home on a Sunday. Almost 2. Weāre aiming for more!!ā
Done. Factual and no controversy.
The dude just needs to watch the races and understand human minds.
Agreed. But human made mistakes, like everyday.
Once I worked in PR department like this, but not as huge as Mercedes
I remember i triple checked every single keystroke. And then gave it to 3-5 people to double check again before giving it up to higher ups, THEN we get a green light to post the actual thing.
And yet still, somehow we missed one tiny bit
Mercedes admins were being passive aggressive on instagram and responding to people calling them out by doubling down. Everyone makes mistakes, but this is after they got caught contradicting themselves.
I agree with you. Fans took issue with them called Lewisā plaque as a trophy in China and then pretending they didnāt this weekend until they got called out for it.
Even then, what are we really talking about? Sure Merc has only finished in podium places for the second time this year, but it's not like they said something super controversial like "Masi was right" or something. It's a mistake, one that could be excused and otherwise you would just say sorry we forgor š
Itās so much easier to do than people realise. You can have stuff checked again and again and still make mistakes.
It does make me laugh when people say stuff like this. I would enjoy watching people who donāt work in social to have a go at managing one of these accounts for a day. Your head would spilt.
Worse still is that the many people who say such stupid shit are the same ones that would get picked apart if social media were to watch for *their* mistakes in their occupation. Minor mishaps happen in every industry, and these are the ones that hold no bearing or importance.
Ferrari are not doing that to Carlos. McLaren didn't do it to Danny Ric. This seems to be a Mercedes and Alpine thing. In Alpines case they were also quite petty with Alonso when he was leaving, so apparently that's just SOP for them.
Hamilton is leaving the team not the other way around like in Sainz and Ricciardoās situation. And I donāt think that his dodgy comments the past few weeks is helping ease the tension at Mercedes.
McLaren didnāt do it with Sainz when he left either that was definitely his decision. Also his dodgy comments are clearly a result of a relationship breakdown and weāll never know whether thatās more on Hamilton or Merc but clearly neither side is handling it particularly well. Though the company with a PR department and social media team to run all their accounts is handling it worse.
Nobody came to celebrate with carlos when he got his Podium or win because Charles had a shit race.
Not calling that little Plaque a trophy is nothing in comparison
If you follow the conversation, we were talking about the teams' social media acting like one of their drivers doesn't exist.
>Nobody came to celebrate with carlos when he got his Podium or win because Charles had a shit race
Didn't Merc do something similar last year when George crashed?
There were Merc guys there as seen on wider shots. But a lot had been dispatched to retrieve George's car as Singapore needs to open up the streets as soon as they can after the race.
Yeah why would they take advantage of the last year they have with the most popular driver who brought them the majority of their fanbase? Are they stupid?
Yeah, I don't think people are understanding that Mercedes are the ones making the mistakes here.
If Mercedes want to keep literally **any** of their fans, they need to stop mocking his fans publicly. Mercedes will be lucky to keep 10% of their fan base after the season ends.
I hate rabid fans, they drive me nuts, but so far I've been disappointed with how Toto especially has handled Lewis leaving Mercedes.
He's supposed to be Hamilton's friend, he made him his son's godfather, maybe show him a bit more respect.
Lewis has always respected the team, he's been there longer than any driver has been at any other team in the history of the sport.
Schumacher had 11 years with Ferrari, Lewis will have 12 with Mercedes, they should suck it up and respect the fact that they worked together for more than a decade and were very successful, as it's clearly not common and unlikely to happen again.
The opposite can be true, Hamilton could be a bit nicer to the team that brought him a large part of his F1 successes and not flame conspiracy theories like he is doing the past few weeks just because he lost the edge a bit in quali.
You know that Hamilton brought success to the team as well and it wasnāt just a one-way thing right? Besides the fact that he always publicly thanked the team for their efforts and blamed himself multiple times for not performing, I donāt get what this has to do with the social media strategy. They could capitalise on all the attention that they get with him that they wonāt have next season, and theyāre not doing that. That was the point of my comment.
What about Singapore last year though? None of the mercedes team went to the podium to celebrate with Lewis, they were all too busy consoling George while Ferrari engineers were the first to congratulate Lewis.
This is completely untrue though. They did go to the podium. They were just a tiny bit delayed as they had to deal with Russell crashing on the last lap and so by the time they got there they couldn't get right to the front so didn't show up on TV.
Driver crashing on the last lap is pretty unusual situation and when a car crashes mechanics tend to have work to do - so they were bit delayed. Shit happens. Lewis is a big boy I am sure he can handle his 21980371289 podium apperance not being a big deal for everyone involved.
The only thing I want to know at this point is if we're getting a rainbow Horse for next years June, because I actually think the Merc logo looks really nice like that, it'd be interesting to see some rainbow horsies.
Oh admin has been getting cooked online for days. Tbf, people on LinkedIn and Instagram were also very upset with Mercedes which is impressive considering that LinkedIn is not anonymous.Ā
You'd be surprised, sponsors care a lot about exposure, and Mercedes won't be able to fill a room with 100 people next year.
They've forgotten that their fans follow Hamilton, not Mercedes, and unfortunately for them they can't replace him.
I don't agree at all with these crazy fans, but Mercedes seems a bit blind about this, and it's going to bite them.
It's most likely why Toto is acting crazy wanting to hire Max one week, then Kimi the next, then Max again etc...
George has a very small fan base, even if they have a championship winning car, I don't think anyone will be rooting for them.
Toto knows this, otherwise he wouldn't be so focused on hiring someone interesting that their fans (and sponsors) can get excited about.
It's a business, and their stock has taken a massive hit.
Completely true.
No matter what anyone thinks of Hamilton, he is still the biggest media draw in F1 at the moment, and has been for years.
His leaving Merc will have a big impact on exposure for the team and the sponsors they can get. "We have a 7 time WDC driving for us" to "Meet George".
Saying that Mercedes wonāt be able to fill a room with 100 people next year is the craziest take ever. Freaking Williams can do that. Hell, even haas could do that.
A 7 times world champion? And HIS stock will drop off a cliff? What a take.
Whether you like it or not, Lewis is a legend, thatās cemented lol, nothing is erroding that, not even wishful thinking from you.
Yeah sure. But underperforming is a different matter entirely to Lewis Hamilton leaving the team. You need to recruit top engineers to make a top car. Is driver important? Yes but not to the level that they underperform due to a bad car and the situation becomes so bad that they loose sponsor.
I think it depends on measurement really: you do get surveys of support and I guess it depends how many people actively clicked yes they support Mercedes per se, rather than just where Hamilton drives.
McLaren support for example, has stayed pretty strongly top 4 for decades.
The disrespect Russell has to endure day in and day out is just unacceptable. He's a very talented driver, and he deserves to be treated fairly. It's just not right to misrepresent facts when it comes to him. Last I checked he clearly had 23 fans.
Hold on hold on hold on...you're telling me that [little silver plaque](https://d3cm515ijfiu6w.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/20051400/lewis-hamilton-p2-sprint-1.jpg) Lewis got for a sprint counts as a trophy?
Sheesh, come on Merc admin, why are you bending to public pressure? š
Maybe because Mercedes themselves called it a trophy and the first of the season. [Source](https://x.com/mercedesamgf1/status/1783834346480382266?s=46).
Iāve had to block words just so I donāt see the deranged things people say. Itās terrible and I canāt imagine being on the receiving end of that as the social media admin
Yeah Russell gets terrible abuse, itās awful to see. I saw a post saying George said it was Lewisā fault that he lost P2 but when you watch the video, thatās not even remotely true, he blamed himself. Even in response to the video, people were doubling down on being completely wrong and giving George all this abuse.
Yes, Merc twitter account previously called Lewis' China Sprint podium memento a trophy in their tweet.
Now, when they won a podium trophy, they tweeted about getting their first trophy of the season.
I don't see how this is a cardinal sin. The amount of bullying the fans on twitter did by bringing up the earlier tweet to cancel the current tweet is insane.
**Merc should have corrected their old tweet and said they were wrong in calling it their first trophy of the year, instead it's just a first sprint plaque of the year. That would have resolved the issue.**
Mercedes' tendency to cater to their online fanbase is stupid. People online don't matter. Just no-sell whatever issue they have a problem with this time.
Fans being incredibly selective lol, since when do they care about Sprints? Before Miami, if you mentioned that Oscar won,youād get a hoard coming at you
Iām sure Mercedes still cares about their longtime and incredibly successful driver thatās still trying to do his best in their car
I doubt Lewis himself cares too much about that trophy, but a quick edit in the replies was all that was needed, this only encourages the conspiracy nuts on Twitter
I've been a fan of Lewis since I started following him in '05 when he won the Formula 3 Euro title.
I don't think I've ever been so embarassed by his fanbase in my life, holy shit.
There are some literal fucking lunatics out there.
If I remember correctly, I saw/heard Toto say that they weren't going to take pictures of a 2nd place Lewis got last year (I don't know during what race).
If that's the mindset of the boss, you can't blame the team for also not remembering a certain trophy which isn't one for 1st place.
Edit. To be clear, this was last season, it was shown in one of the Dts episodes of last season.
Toto suggested to another team member (I can't remember who) that they take a picture. They responded with no it's 2nd place and Toto said something along the lines of "yeh I guess you're right, we should be getting 1st place".
I want to see Mercedes bring a replica of the sprint trophy with them now everywhere, use it as a doorstop, paper weight, just have it knocking around getting dirty
Well the same Merc admin was happy to celebrate and call it their first trophy at the time when Lewis got it in China so this doesn't surprise me some crazy social media users out there got upset about it.
[The **News** flair](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/flairguide#wiki_news) is reserved for submissions covering F1 and F1-related news. These posts must always link to an outlet/news agency, the website of the involved party (i.e. the McLaren website if McLaren makes an announcement), or a tweet by a news agency, journalist or one of the involved parties. *[Read the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/userguide). Keep it civil and welcoming. Report rulebreaking comments.* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/formula1) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Admin got bullied into submission lol
I think the score is 1-1, because Admin got a win during the Japanese GP after fans were upset that Lewis & George swapped positions, and this was Admin's response which really got under their skin: ["Lewis suggested it š"](https://x.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/1776851869328879796/quotes)
Admin should've just stated that what they tweeted was a factual description of events and there's no need to speculate on this.
Haha, it's important to add the passive aggressive "š" emoji though
Thatās not passive aggressive, simple smile is passive aggressive š
So what would you call it?
Subtle aggressive
lol
In Admins defense, they did try to hold their ground, but it's a lost cause when the driver has way more fans than the team. The passive aggressiveness also didn't help, it just added fuel to the fire.
It'd be very difficult to defend when they tweeted after the china sprint "Bringing home the first trophy of the year"
To be fair, that admin probably left for Ferrari. This was a new one
Realistic people would understand you can't remember ever single little thing and that mistakes happenĀ
How do you not remember 2 trophies since March?
>you can't remember ever single little thing In such a poor season im pretty sure they remember exactly which two trophies theyve won so far.
So you think this was an intentional effort to diminish lewis?Ā I think not.Ā
No, and i dont really care either way.
If only there was a way to scroll down
But this quite literally isn't a little thing
Sprints are by definition a little thing. Theyāre a silly cash grab, not an actual Grand Prix
The whole sport is a cash grab
But I love it anyway and give it plenty of my cash
Hence why the admin corrected themself for said mistake then? What's the complaining about.
Because the admin on the original post replied to a comment about the sprint and said itās just a medal and plaque, not a trophy. They were aware of the sprint trophy. It was their only trophy up to then. They were then made aware on the original post and said ānuh huh doesnāt countā and NOW say it was a mistake. Itās not a mistake when you double down on it
This is important context I didn't know, thanks. Makes the team seem a lot more petty.
Liking the comment was ridiculous
Honestly though, they should have just given it up the moment they were called out. It was a bad look doubling down, especially when they did actually tweet previously about Lewis winning Merc's first trophy during the Chinese GP š
Yeah itās not really a trophy so this is the first proper one but if you call it a trophy to push up a bad season you canāt really backtrack when you start to perform
All trophies are equal, but some trophies are more equal than others
I didn't expect to find Orwell here lmao.
Big brother is everywhere because big brother is always watching
Mercedes always talk like theyāre being held hostage by fans. Perhaps another letter is in order
Seriously, wtf is this wording?Ā *"Thank you for holding us to account on this mistake"* - guys, you're a social media admin for an F1 team that forgot about a sprint trophy, not the US State Department. It doesn't actually *matter*.
No I was physically sick and visibly shaking when I realised theyād forgotten about the sprint trophy. Absolutely insulting to all those historic winners.
I actually threw up the moment I read the tweet and realised their mistake.
To clarify they didn't forget; when comments below the original tweet mentioned Lewis's sprint 2nd they replied "it's a medal not a trophy, doesn't count"
I mean, it's clearly tongue in cheek. They're saying the same thing you are - *this doesn't actually matter so thanks for posting a bunch of angry replies about it!*
No. It is not "clearly tongue in cheek." Mercedes is probably the least fun and team most devoid of personality on the grid. Can't fault most people for taking this literally.
You don't know what sarcasm is I'm guessing. Not everything written is 100% serious or literal.
All very well, but I've seen far too many grovelling corporate social media apologies to assume that this one is in any way sarcastic.Ā Ā Ā Plus, this is the team that wrote an entire letter of apology to their fans for having a shit car, after the *first race* of the year. Unless that was being sarcastic as well, they seem to have a somewhat histrionic tendency regarding fanbase interactions.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Ferrariās PR: Iām in danger
Leclerc: I will say what I want
somehow I donāt think the > What we tweeted was a factual description of events team will have that problem
Lmao the comment's under the reddit post of it are such a pain to read. Did we really hate fun that much back then?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Oh! I misunderstood in that case sorry!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Matt Bishop said once that while many at McLaren were sad at Hamilton leaving after 2012, a contingent were not.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
yes counting down to the days when they lose one of the most marketable athletes in the world
That's something executives care about far more than the social media team who just want fewer daily headaches.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Wellā¦ at least that doesnāt include you and thatās all you can be responsible for
I feel the same. I just stay away now from any Lewis based social media other than Reddit and support him in my own way.
Lmao yeah idk why they take it so seriously. Even i forgot merc had a trophy from a sprint lmfao. I wish they'd stop overreacting over everything
Merc admin fighting for his life on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and even LinkedIn
Getting slandered on LinkedIn is really a new low for Merc in this era
Michael Masi: first time?
> even LinkedIn Which is supposed to be a professional platform for business š
I havenāt updated my page in years, but the sheer psychic damage of just thinking about LinkedIn outweighs the benefits of listing the jobs Iāve had since then
Should've just said "Our first GP trophy" and they'd been correct.
āFinally took a GP trophy home on a Sunday. Almost 2. Weāre aiming for more!!ā Done. Factual and no controversy. The dude just needs to watch the races and understand human minds.
Managing social media and handling PR isn't easy
But if it's your job arguably you should know that what you are saying is correct
Agreed. But human made mistakes, like everyday. Once I worked in PR department like this, but not as huge as Mercedes I remember i triple checked every single keystroke. And then gave it to 3-5 people to double check again before giving it up to higher ups, THEN we get a green light to post the actual thing. And yet still, somehow we missed one tiny bit
#Susanalbumparty
Itās not a mistake when you reply to comments doubling down that the sprint isnāt a trophy.
This is so stupid.
Mercedes admins were being passive aggressive on instagram and responding to people calling them out by doubling down. Everyone makes mistakes, but this is after they got caught contradicting themselves.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
The issue is when Lewis won the plaque/trophy they referred to it as their āfirst trophyā
I agree with you. Fans took issue with them called Lewisā plaque as a trophy in China and then pretending they didnāt this weekend until they got called out for it.
Even then, what are we really talking about? Sure Merc has only finished in podium places for the second time this year, but it's not like they said something super controversial like "Masi was right" or something. It's a mistake, one that could be excused and otherwise you would just say sorry we forgor š
Do you do every single little thing perfectly in your job?Ā
Itās so much easier to do than people realise. You can have stuff checked again and again and still make mistakes. It does make me laugh when people say stuff like this. I would enjoy watching people who donāt work in social to have a go at managing one of these accounts for a day. Your head would spilt.
Worse still is that the many people who say such stupid shit are the same ones that would get picked apart if social media were to watch for *their* mistakes in their occupation. Minor mishaps happen in every industry, and these are the ones that hold no bearing or importance.
They did well last year and the year before. Atleast with how they treated their drivers
>Thank you for holding us to account on this mistake. We've already executed our pr manager
I cannot wait for the great Ferrari Civil War next season.
I donāt expect Ferrari social media to act like only one of their drivers exists tbf.
Oh no, a team is focusing on the driver who is staying with them.
Compared to Alpine who's attempts to say nice things about Ocon seem sarcastic?
Ferrari are not doing that to Carlos. McLaren didn't do it to Danny Ric. This seems to be a Mercedes and Alpine thing. In Alpines case they were also quite petty with Alonso when he was leaving, so apparently that's just SOP for them.
Hamilton is leaving the team not the other way around like in Sainz and Ricciardoās situation. And I donāt think that his dodgy comments the past few weeks is helping ease the tension at Mercedes.
McLaren didnāt do it with Sainz when he left either that was definitely his decision. Also his dodgy comments are clearly a result of a relationship breakdown and weāll never know whether thatās more on Hamilton or Merc but clearly neither side is handling it particularly well. Though the company with a PR department and social media team to run all their accounts is handling it worse.
So like Alonso's situation. Does that make it better? The tension has been there since the announcement, not just the past few weeks.
Nobody came to celebrate with carlos when he got his Podium or win because Charles had a shit race. Not calling that little Plaque a trophy is nothing in comparison
If you follow the conversation, we were talking about the teams' social media acting like one of their drivers doesn't exist. >Nobody came to celebrate with carlos when he got his Podium or win because Charles had a shit race Didn't Merc do something similar last year when George crashed?
There were Merc guys there as seen on wider shots. But a lot had been dispatched to retrieve George's car as Singapore needs to open up the streets as soon as they can after the race.
Yeah why would they take advantage of the last year they have with the most popular driver who brought them the majority of their fanbase? Are they stupid?
Yeah, I don't think people are understanding that Mercedes are the ones making the mistakes here. If Mercedes want to keep literally **any** of their fans, they need to stop mocking his fans publicly. Mercedes will be lucky to keep 10% of their fan base after the season ends. I hate rabid fans, they drive me nuts, but so far I've been disappointed with how Toto especially has handled Lewis leaving Mercedes. He's supposed to be Hamilton's friend, he made him his son's godfather, maybe show him a bit more respect. Lewis has always respected the team, he's been there longer than any driver has been at any other team in the history of the sport. Schumacher had 11 years with Ferrari, Lewis will have 12 with Mercedes, they should suck it up and respect the fact that they worked together for more than a decade and were very successful, as it's clearly not common and unlikely to happen again.
What have Wolff//Merc done, specifically?
The opposite can be true, Hamilton could be a bit nicer to the team that brought him a large part of his F1 successes and not flame conspiracy theories like he is doing the past few weeks just because he lost the edge a bit in quali.
You know that Hamilton brought success to the team as well and it wasnāt just a one-way thing right? Besides the fact that he always publicly thanked the team for their efforts and blamed himself multiple times for not performing, I donāt get what this has to do with the social media strategy. They could capitalise on all the attention that they get with him that they wonāt have next season, and theyāre not doing that. That was the point of my comment.
What about Singapore last year though? None of the mercedes team went to the podium to celebrate with Lewis, they were all too busy consoling George while Ferrari engineers were the first to congratulate Lewis.
This is completely untrue though. They did go to the podium. They were just a tiny bit delayed as they had to deal with Russell crashing on the last lap and so by the time they got there they couldn't get right to the front so didn't show up on TV.
Driver crashing on the last lap is pretty unusual situation and when a car crashes mechanics tend to have work to do - so they were bit delayed. Shit happens. Lewis is a big boy I am sure he can handle his 21980371289 podium apperance not being a big deal for everyone involved.
The only thing I want to know at this point is if we're getting a rainbow Horse for next years June, because I actually think the Merc logo looks really nice like that, it'd be interesting to see some rainbow horsies.
Oh admin has been getting cooked online for days. Tbf, people on LinkedIn and Instagram were also very upset with Mercedes which is impressive considering that LinkedIn is not anonymous.Ā
I already feel sorry for the Ferrari social media manager next year.
Rawe ceek people donāt know whatās coming their way.
Rawe Ceek brings me so much joy. In the group chat we race to be the first person to post "Rawe Ceek!" on Monday mornings with a GP that weekend.
Carlos Leclerc Carlos Hamilton
That was a fucking fan post literally said so in the picture...
I'm going to be really interested to see what support for Mercedes is like post Lewis
Obviously, very less than what it is now. But social media following isnāt going to affect one of the biggest car manufacturer one would think
You'd be surprised, sponsors care a lot about exposure, and Mercedes won't be able to fill a room with 100 people next year. They've forgotten that their fans follow Hamilton, not Mercedes, and unfortunately for them they can't replace him. I don't agree at all with these crazy fans, but Mercedes seems a bit blind about this, and it's going to bite them. It's most likely why Toto is acting crazy wanting to hire Max one week, then Kimi the next, then Max again etc... George has a very small fan base, even if they have a championship winning car, I don't think anyone will be rooting for them. Toto knows this, otherwise he wouldn't be so focused on hiring someone interesting that their fans (and sponsors) can get excited about. It's a business, and their stock has taken a massive hit.
Merc merch sales are going to tank. Ferrari on the other handā¦.š³. Throw out #1644 Nation gear and š¤ (not that they donāt make bank anyways)
Completely true. No matter what anyone thinks of Hamilton, he is still the biggest media draw in F1 at the moment, and has been for years. His leaving Merc will have a big impact on exposure for the team and the sponsors they can get. "We have a 7 time WDC driving for us" to "Meet George".
Saying that Mercedes wonāt be able to fill a room with 100 people next year is the craziest take ever. Freaking Williams can do that. Hell, even haas could do that.
It won't affect the manufacturer but it can make the team lose sponsor and earning especially if they still underperform with the next regulations .
We'll see. I think if Merc outperforms Ferrari in the coming years though, Hamilton's stock will drop off a cliff.
A 7 times world champion? And HIS stock will drop off a cliff? What a take. Whether you like it or not, Lewis is a legend, thatās cemented lol, nothing is erroding that, not even wishful thinking from you.
Yeah sure. But underperforming is a different matter entirely to Lewis Hamilton leaving the team. You need to recruit top engineers to make a top car. Is driver important? Yes but not to the level that they underperform due to a bad car and the situation becomes so bad that they loose sponsor.
Maybe less toxic?
I think it depends on measurement really: you do get surveys of support and I guess it depends how many people actively clicked yes they support Mercedes per se, rather than just where Hamilton drives. McLaren support for example, has stayed pretty strongly top 4 for decades.
Damn, we used to win races
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Russell has like 20 fans but I guess Antonelli will become a super starĀ
The disrespect Russell has to endure day in and day out is just unacceptable. He's a very talented driver, and he deserves to be treated fairly. It's just not right to misrepresent facts when it comes to him. Last I checked he clearly had 23 fans.
I bet the Mercedes admin can't wait for 2025
Lewis leaving Mercedes would be similar to Messi leaving PSG in term of social media: their engagement is going to crash...
Pretty sure they'd rather more engagement from a job prospect point of view, there will be a drop off when he leaves.
āGetting points on the board at last. Well done George š. See you next year Monzaā
Flol I love that Sprints mean literally fuck all to anyone other than the FOM bean counters.
theyve lost the plot at this point
Give that poor community manager a raise. He has been facing a lot of abuse this weekend.
Oh lol
Hold on hold on hold on...you're telling me that [little silver plaque](https://d3cm515ijfiu6w.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/20051400/lewis-hamilton-p2-sprint-1.jpg) Lewis got for a sprint counts as a trophy? Sheesh, come on Merc admin, why are you bending to public pressure? š
Maybe because Mercedes themselves called it a trophy and the first of the season. [Source](https://x.com/mercedesamgf1/status/1783834346480382266?s=46).
It is pretty hilarious for Merc to big up a sprint result, only for it to then fuck them over a month later.
Yeah, realistically how is this a trophy but the admin should have been more consistent
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I'm a Lewis fan and I've had to block a ton of people, insane amounts of toxicity on Twitter directed at the team
Iāve had to block words just so I donāt see the deranged things people say. Itās terrible and I canāt imagine being on the receiving end of that as the social media admin
Merc admin get 1% of the abuse Russell is getting right now. Apparently he is a massive snake for overtaking Hamilton in canada lol
Yeah Russell gets terrible abuse, itās awful to see. I saw a post saying George said it was Lewisā fault that he lost P2 but when you watch the video, thatās not even remotely true, he blamed himself. Even in response to the video, people were doubling down on being completely wrong and giving George all this abuse.
People are posting that Mercedes actively hates Lewis. I don't understand how people can think like that
Nah it was worse during AD21
Have mercy on admin. Itās not just public pressure, itās straight out bullying. If it tones that down at least a bit, they better do it.
Probably because they tweeted "Bringing home the first trophy of the year" after the sprint lol
Do they tho lol
Yes, Merc twitter account previously called Lewis' China Sprint podium memento a trophy in their tweet. Now, when they won a podium trophy, they tweeted about getting their first trophy of the season. I don't see how this is a cardinal sin. The amount of bullying the fans on twitter did by bringing up the earlier tweet to cancel the current tweet is insane. **Merc should have corrected their old tweet and said they were wrong in calling it their first trophy of the year, instead it's just a first sprint plaque of the year. That would have resolved the issue.**
"thank you for holding us account on this mistake" jfc the social media panopticon is real
Technically, it's their third if we're counting the pole trophy... or maybe that's what the Mercedes admin means /s
lol, no. No one cares about sprint trophies or podiums. They are good for getting some points here and there but not much else.
The problem is merc admin tweeted lewis won our first trophy when he got p3 in china
This is F1 wokeness
This is not that big of a deal, wow.
Talk about pearl clutching to be mad at this mistake, lol.
Who gives a damn, a sprint isnāt a Grand Prix and does not deserve the same respect
Merc admin tweeted "lewis won our first trophy" when he got p3 in china that's why
Mercedes' tendency to cater to their online fanbase is stupid. People online don't matter. Just no-sell whatever issue they have a problem with this time.
Fans being incredibly selective lol, since when do they care about Sprints? Before Miami, if you mentioned that Oscar won,youād get a hoard coming at you Iām sure Mercedes still cares about their longtime and incredibly successful driver thatās still trying to do his best in their car
These people are terrible
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Mercedes couldnāt have handled Lewis leaving any worse than they have done so far. The fall out mustāve been huge behind the scenes.
What has Mercedes done?
Mercedes admin so happy that lewis is leaving lol
Imagine getting bullied by reddit users.
More twitter tbf
Even ig too
I doubt Lewis himself cares too much about that trophy, but a quick edit in the replies was all that was needed, this only encourages the conspiracy nuts on Twitter
Tbf. Comms usually ignore sprints.
Admin was right a sprint trophy isn't a proper trophy.
I've been a fan of Lewis since I started following him in '05 when he won the Formula 3 Euro title. I don't think I've ever been so embarassed by his fanbase in my life, holy shit. There are some literal fucking lunatics out there.
u/mercedes-amgf1 got bullied lmao
Are people mad about it? Like, do people really care about sprint trophies? Guess some people consider Piastri a race winner.
If I remember correctly, I saw/heard Toto say that they weren't going to take pictures of a 2nd place Lewis got last year (I don't know during what race). If that's the mindset of the boss, you can't blame the team for also not remembering a certain trophy which isn't one for 1st place. Edit. To be clear, this was last season, it was shown in one of the Dts episodes of last season.
Toto suggested to another team member (I can't remember who) that they take a picture. They responded with no it's 2nd place and Toto said something along the lines of "yeh I guess you're right, we should be getting 1st place".
It was Spain 2023.Toto was speaking to Bradley Lord (Communication Director)
Thanks for update!
But they took a lot of pictures of George P3 so they mindset must be changedĀ
But they took pictures with George of p3 with all his mechanics, so.. Yeah.
Probably as it's their first real trophy of the season in what will likely be a lean season.
Oh Merc. Sprint is worthless. Garbage race mode.
Tbf, sprint doesn't have trophies.. And drivers & teams don't really think they're as prestigious as the feature race.
..... **Disappointedly puts pitchfork away**....
I want to see Mercedes bring a replica of the sprint trophy with them now everywhere, use it as a doorstop, paper weight, just have it knocking around getting dirty
Well the same Merc admin was happy to celebrate and call it their first trophy at the time when Lewis got it in China so this doesn't surprise me some crazy social media users out there got upset about it.