Did The Mercedes Fans Really Enjoy Their Team’s Singapore Weekend?

Social media especially in the context of the present, the times we are living in, can be a funny place. Rather, let’s make it strange. You just never know how might the audience react to any move on the track. There’s vitriol, there’s a strong sense of emotional reaction to whatever good, bad or ugly that takes place.

And more often than not, there’s a feeling that despite one doing the best that was actually possible, the end result may never seem enough given the audience’s reactions to it.

Not enough from Mercedes?

Maybe the above is how a certain team called Mercedes would’ve felt upon the conclusion of F1’s most recent Grand Prix, one held at Singapore.

That’s despite having, at least, one driver on the podium. That man being Lewis Hamilton, a seven-time world champion.

For sure, to most of us, it would seem that Sir Lewis Hamilton’s podium was a rather fortunate one in that there was little chance that the great champion driver was going to finish on the podium given just how strong a race George Russell had been driving before the untimely crash ended the youngster’s contest.

Nonetheless, it was a podium finish for Mercedes in the end; a classic situation, one would argue, where if not for the younger driver partnering a mega multiple world champion, one of the sport’s defiant heroes ended up in the top three.

Yet, it became clear that it wasn’t too impressive an end to Mercedes’s race as per the fans. There were tons of reactions that quickly flown in over the social media space with someone even going as far as saying that “Not a single Mercedes fan was in sight” referring to the fact that hardly any fan could be spotted in the aftermath of the contest where the Silver Arrows didn’t fail to onto the elite podium.

Having said that, Hamilton, who shares the record of most Singapore Grand Prix wins with Sebastian Vettel had the following to say about his race before expressing his thoughts on teammate Russell’s unexpected crash:

“We rolled the dice this weekend and went with an offset tire strategy. I felt like the race was a two-stop today and the team did an amazing job to get us back up there. Having to give back the two positions from the first corner was a shame, but I kept my head down and kept pushing.”

“Overall this weekend, I haven’t felt fully comfortable with the car. Today it was in a better place though. If I had had that same feeling yesterday, I think I could have been fighting for the front row. That may have changed my race today, but I’m still pleased to get on the podium.”

Having said that, Lewis Hamilton, about whom it should be reminded that the driver is just four more podiums away from a 200th F1 podium, reflected on the race weekend for his teammate, George Russell.

Here is what the 2020 World Champion said in Singapore’s aftermath:

“It was extremely unfortunate what happened to George. We were pushing so hard to catch the guys ahead and our tyres were so hot. He’s been phenomenal all weekend and I know he will bounce back.”

And to be frank, bouncing back strongly is what George Russell, who up until his crash, looked in strong form under the bright lights, would quite like to do.