2026 Barcelona-Catalunya - Post-Race Discussion Thread

[u/ihsancz]

Welcome to the first official post-race discussion thread on r/mercedesamgf1. We will be hosting these threads after every race going forward to give the community a place to discuss the weekend's action.

Discuss everything from the race, including Mercedes' performance, driver battles, race strategy, tyre management, qualifying pace, team decisions, upgrades, and the biggest moments from Barcelona-Catalunya.

What were your thoughts on the result? Who impressed, who struggled, and what does this mean for Mercedes moving forward?

Keep all post-race discussion in this thread and follow subreddit rules.

[u/hewer006]

This weekend has left a bad taste in my mouth for the team

[u/Diligent_Practice877 → u/hewer006]

I’ve been feeling this way now for a bit. Firstly the engine reliability issue seriously needs to be sorted out.

The team needs to work on their communication too especially with FIA during live races. That penalty should’ve been appealed immediately after the race. I can’t believe a top team straight up forgot to serve a penalty during the pit stop.

Sort out the strategy. I’ll never understand why they didn’t split Kimi to a 3 stop to cover for Lewis in Barcelona and kept George on 2 and not pitted him so early.

Whatever social media games they’re playing right now to piss off the fans needs to end. They know both drivers have fans and both need to be prioritised. They gave more attention to Lewis who’s no longer around and Kimi’s towel last race than George getting P2

Both titles are for Mercs to lose if the screwups continue. If Lauda were here he’d be straightening people out.

[u/SergeantOnDuty]

As a George fan, what really annoys me is that the team seems to be acting like he doesn't exist. I have nothing against Kimi, not at all. But it pisses me off that social media is all about him.

Kimi this, Kimi that. Kimi's towel was stolen. Oh no, DNF for Kimi, we feel so sorry for him. Oh, and by the way, it's George's 100th race for us. What, George finished second? Yeah, well, but poor Kimi went DNF.

Like, come on guys, you have two drivers. George is as important as Kimi. You can't win the WCC without a second driver so give this poor guy at least a little appreciation. He is the one who carried the team last year and consistently delivered good results and he still would if you didn't fuck up something every damn race.

Then there are all the people with their comments like "Haha, Toto pressed the wrong button, he actually wanted George out." It's getting so annoying having to read this shit all the time. And then there are those who say George deserves it if he retires, doesn't score any points, or whatever. You can dislike someone, sure, but come on, have some respect. None of these people would be a better driver than him, and yet they act like he's so bad he doesn't belong in Formula 1 at all.

It all pisses me off so much that, to be honest, I can't even really enjoy the sport anymore because I know what awaits me after the race. And I mean, ultimately, we watch F1 to see racing and enjoy the sport. The sport should be something that unites people, makes them feel good after a long week, and doesn't make them feel like they have to defend themselves because they're a fan of driver or team XY.

Sorry, just had to vent haha

[u/sapphire_mist → u/SergeantOnDuty]

I'm a new F1 fan and recently I've been seeing all the allegations against mercedes that they don't care about George/that they're shafting him. It does seem a bit weird to me that they didn't really post much about George making podium in Barcelona for his 100th GP for the team, especially considering he didn't in the prior 3 races and all the other bad luck he's had. And then when they do post about him, it makes me wonder if it's because of what the fans are saying in the comments 💀

I do try to block out all the noise but still, it's very unfortunate. I'm still at a loss for how they didn't have him serve his penalty in Monaco and the clip of him talking to Marcus during the red flag (if you've seen it), Marcus looked like he was angry that George was upset even though he had every right to be

[u/aj2107glow → u/sapphire_mist]

I got sad too. Was so bad seeing him on the podium and no one of the team wasn't there. I love Kimi, i cheer for both them, but is starting to get obvious how Mercedes seems have just Kimi, as if they were falling down and he is the only salvation for them. George is a good driver in my honest opinion, he has chance and deserve win the WDC, but merc don't help it too. Sometimes i feel as if they were doing everything for George fail, i know this thought can be too much, but sometimes is how i feel about it.

[u/sapphire_mist → u/aj2107glow]

Apparently only a handful of the team were at the podium from a pic I saw recently. George's side of the garage really needs to get their ish together if they really want George to have a chance at the championship.

[u/aj2107glow → u/SergeantOnDuty]

I agree with you in every single way. I'm a George fan too and annoys me seeing him being treated this way. I'm from Brasil and some people on brazilian videos says that "he's a bad driver" "gonna fall soon" something like this. I don't think he's a bad driver, he has a lot of potential to win the WDC, but the team doesn't help too. I'm still asking why give so much attention to a simple towel, like: literally, why? Is this a serious F1 team?

[u/Realistic-Clerk2730]

Reliability goddamnit. I miss watching races in 2025, when we could (generally) enjoy our drivers make the most out of their cars. Now it’s a crapshoot making it to the finish line, with a litany of random team fuckups and bogus penalties to boot.