Unfortunately, Mercedes couldn’t silence the critics with its performance at Suzuka.
Well, that didn’t go as planned. Ahead of this weekend’s Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, the Mercedes F1 team revealed a life-sized Lego recreation of last year’s “W14” car. In addition to the inherent strangeness of making a life-sized Lego version of a car that only took second place in the constructor’s championship last year, F1 fans absolutely ridiculed the Lego recreation on social media. And, unfortunately for Mercedes, the team couldn’t silence the ridicule at Suzuka.
Some of the comments on Mercedes F1’s X post are brutal, with most of them claiming the Lego version is faster than the real W14 car or more aerodynamic than the new W15 car. Some asked if Mercedes blew all of its W15 budget for this year on this build instead. But the most brutal of them all, and potentially the darkest, is the one that reads “George Russell: RED FLAG RED FLAG RED RED RED,” accompanied by a picture of a pile of gray Lego bricks. It’s a call back to Russell’s recent crash, which left him stuck sideways in the middle of the track, terrified that he’d be hit.
The irony is that things were initially looking up for Mercedes ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix. On Saturday, before the race, Mercedes driver and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton said that his car felt “the nicest it has felt in three years,” despite qualifying in seventh place. However, team Mercedes couldn’t back that claim up, as Hamilton finished the race in ninth place, with his teammate George Russell in seventh. Admittedly, that was mostly due to poor tire strategy.
These past few years have been rough for the Mercedes F1 team. Following years and years of dominance, which saw Hamilton win six of his seven championship titles, Mercedes has become the butt of F1 fan jokes and this Lego recreation didn’t help. Now I feel bad for all the people who had to spend days building the giant Lego F1 car, only for it to become this weekend’s punchline.
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