Mercedes F1 team have left George Russell fans fuming after failing to mention the British driver in a post debriefing the Barcelona Grand Prix.

Russell crossed the line in P2 at last weekend’s race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya claiming his third podium of the sport’s new regulations cycle.

Since winning the season-opening Australian GP back in March, Russell has slipped down the drivers’ standings as team-mate Kimi Antonelli has emerged as the favourite for the championship.

After a record-breaking run of five consecutive grand prix wins for the Italian teenager, Antonelli’s luck finally ran out in Spain last weekend when his Mercedes suffered an ‘electrical shutdown’ with four laps to go, ruling him out of the race entirely.

Following Antonelli’s first DNF of the season, Mercedes took to LinkedIn to celebrate the success of their former star driver Lewis Hamilton, who crossed the line nearly 20 seconds ahead of Russell to secure his first grand prix win for new team Ferrari.

But whilst the Silver Arrows social team shone a light on their ‘old friend’ Hamilton and shared commiserations for Antonelli, Russell wasn’t mentioned at all.

F1 HEADLINES: Verstappen flies to Red Bull HQ as Mercedes U-turn announced

Mercedes omit F1 star Russell from Barcelona GP post

In full, the post read: “A tough day for the Team, but fantastic to see our old friend Lewis Hamilton take his first win in Red for our oldest rivals Scuderia Ferrari HP.

“The Virtual Safety Car may have helped at the final stop, but Lewis drove a fantastic race and is a fully deserving winner.

“We’re dissapointed that another reliability issue has cost us valuable points with Kimi and it’s clear we need to strengthen in this area.

“Today proves that we’ve got a fight on our hands in both Championships ahead of us, but like always we’ll embrace that challenge to stand back on the top step of the podium.

“Now it’s time to regroup and refocus back home at Lauda Drive and come back stronger in Austria in just a few weeks.”

GPFans contacted Mercedes for comment.

Though the images in the post did include snaps of Russell pouring champagne over his old team-mate and posing with fellow podium finisher Lando Norris, the 28-year-old wasn’t mentioned by name in the post.

This angered fans to say the least with many flocking to the comments to question the post.

“I’m not sure I see the fairness in this approach. I don’t know the full context behind your team’s decision, but I hope future posts can provide a more balanced perspective,” read one comment, whilst another noted: “I think a very tongue in cheek post, *disappointed you’ve no mention of your second driver, the VSC wouldn’t of made a difference… it’s like a bitter well done.”

One comment stated: “Congratulations to Lewis on a well-deserved victory. That said, George also delivered a strong performance, securing P2 in his 100th Grand Prix with Mercedes. It would have been nice to see that acknowledged in the team’s statement as well.”

Another social media user simply summarised their disappointment in the F1 squad by writing beneath the post: “Wow not mentioning your other driver that finished second, poor.”

The seventh round of the championship wasn’t just an average race for Russell either.

The six-time grand prix winner celebrated his 100th grand prix driving for the Brackley-based outfit last time out, something which fans felt made the fact that Russell was absent from the post even worse.

But not everyone felt that way given that Russell started the 66-lap race from pole position. One individual commented: “He did start the race from 1st position and ended it in 2nd , so not an overly positive thing,” which caused another to reply: “So why mention Kimis DNF then? Completely ignoring your driver getting on the podium in his 100th race for the team is diabolical.”

READ MORE: Sky F1 pundit says Lewis Hamilton has done at Ferrari what Charles Leclerc failed to do

Related

A star of the Red Bull F1 team has raised concerns regarding the 2026 starting procedure after it had a detrimental effect on their result at the Barcelona Grand Prix last time out.

On Sunday, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya hosted the seventh round of the F1 2026 championship, which is currently led by Kimi Antonelli.

The Italian teenager’s Mercedes team are also way out in front in the constructors’ standings, with one of the biggest changes of the new regulations era being that Red Bull have begun to fall away from their status as a top team.

The energy drink giants are still within the top four constructors’ but are 52 points behind third-place McLaren after neither Max Verstappen nor Isack Hadjar managed to finish on the podium in Catalonia.

The RB22 has shown promise at certain stages throughout the opening rounds of the year, with Verstappen claiming P3 in Canada and Hadjar earning P3 in Monaco before a controversial decision from the FIA handed that position back to Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.

F1 HEADLINES: Christian Horner prepares bid, Mercedes worry

Hadjar calls for urgent Red Bull solution

Since being promoted from Red Bull’s junior Racing Bulls team, Hadjar has done a considerably better job at closing the gap to Verstappen than any of the four-time champion’s other recent team-mates.

But one thing was clear in Barcelona – Red Bull’s starting procedure isn’t making life as the Dutchman’s team-mate any easier for Hadjar.

“It’s just the whole weekend has been like this for me,” Hadjar told media including GPFans after finishing P6 (the same grid slot he started the race in) at the Barcelona Grand Prix.

“Out of the six practice starts we had the whole weekend, it was the worst,” the 21-year-old continued, noting that Red Bull’s starting procedure severely hampered him straight off the line on Sunday when he dropped a whopping seven places on the opening lap and tumbled down to P13.

“It had to happen on the grid. I stalled twice, which I never did the whole season,” he continued.

“We need to fix these issues, because the procedure is way too complicated. I’m not a computer, I’m not a machine, I can’t be 0.0001 per cent precise. It’s not working.”

Hadjar was able to fight back through the pack but after emerging in front of the midfield, he found himself unable to fight with the frontrunners, exposing Red Bull as being nowhere near the most competitive cars.

“If you’re starting at the back, like me, you clear the midfield cars quite easily, and then the top cars are nowhere near you,” Hadjar noted.

“So then it’s a boring race. But to be fair, we did better than I expected for a track like that with these conditions.

Hadjar then looked to the next round in Austria where he hopes to improve, stating: “I think Red Bull Ring we’re hoping for a better weekend.”

READ MORE: New FIA rule change just blew the F1 title race wide open

Related

Former Ferrari F1 driver Carlos Sainz, who was replaced by Lewis Hamilton at the team, has suggested that the seven-time world champion has been ‘lucky’ with the timing of the regulation changes in the sport.

Hamilton claimed victory at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix last weekend in what was his first grand prix victory as a Ferrari driver.

The 41-year-old replaced Sainz at Ferrari ahead of the 2025 season, and had high levels to live up to after Sainz had claimed two grand prix wins in 2024.

But Hamilton really struggled in his first season, not picking up a single grand prix podium and finishing 86 points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc in the drivers’ championship.

In 2026, however, Hamilton has been rejuvenated, picking up three grand prix podiums before claiming his first Ferrari grand prix win last weekend at the Barcelona GP.

He is only 41 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli, as he hunts an unprecedented eighth world championship victory.

Now, Sainz has revealed just what has sparked this turnaround in form from his rival and successor at Ferrari.

F1 RESULTS: Lewis Hamilton claims record win at Barcelona Grand Prix

Hamilton saved by 2026 regulation changes

The 2026 regulation changes offered Hamilton the chance to ditch the previous generation of cars in which he had only won two grands prix across four seasons.

Since then, he’s been reinvigorated. Sainz believes that this is vital for career success, being able to work on a new car design so that it can be adapted to your own driving style and skill level.

“That’s what defines your career,” Sainz explained to media after the Barcelona GP. “You go to a team with a car you don’t like and spend three years there without adapting. Or without the car adapting to you. You feel like you’re missing a car, don’t you?

“But then you go to a team with a car you like and you feel like a god. It’s a much more complicated sport, and Lewis [Hamilton] deserves credit for turning it around,” he acknowledged.

Later, Sainz said: “The change in regulations was his luck. If he continues with last year’s car, we won’t see this Hamilton.”

F1 HEADLINES: Lewis Hamilton hits out as FIA announce late Barcelona GP penalty

Related