Mercedes official account on Instagram uploaded a team photo as Kimi Antonelli returned to the Brackley factory after his wins in China, Japan, and Miami. However, the team faced backlash in the comments section for the ‘every dream needs a team’ post. Let’s have a look at why they faced the backlash.
George Russell was the favorite to win the Driver’s Championship going into the 2026 season, and the feeling only got stronger after the Briton dominated at the Australian GP. However, Kimi Antonelli won the next three races, including his first F1 win at the Chinese GP, and currently leads the Driver’s Championship.
As Kimi Antonelli returned to the Brackley factory, the team clicked team photos at the Lauda drive and the Morgan drive and shared the same on Instagram. In the two images, the Italian driver can be seen with the team members.
The caption for the two images read, “Every dream needs a team”, and the caption of the post read,
“Family reunion Kimi’s first day back at Lauda Drive and Morgan Drive after his first wins”.
However, George Russell was missing from the team photos shared by Mercedes. Fans took to the comments section and bashed the team, questioning why Russell wasn’t in the photos, as he most definitely was a part of the team.
Since Lewis Hamilton left, George Russell took the lead of the team and was crucial to leading the team, as Kimi Antonelli was just a rookie when he joined.
With Mercedes now uploading a ‘dream needs a team’ post with Antonelli, many bashed Mercedes for forgetting that Russell carried the team forward for the last couple of years. The team doesn’t only need Kimi Antonelli but also George Russell and vice versa.
Fans bash Mercedes’ ‘every dream needs a team’ post on Instagram
Fans took to the comments section of Mercedes’ post of Kimi Antonelli’s picture with the team at the Lauda drive and Morgan drive, and bashed the team for George Russell’s absence
“All respect to Kimi and what he’s been achieving but George has carried the team for past few years only to come up to this point?”
“Okay, I get it now-your team has never respected George’s dream. You don’t need George to work hard for your points. Before you forget about George, just remember that most of the points you earned last year came from him,” commented another
A user mentioned, “Suddenly this team forgot about George. You guys never deserve him. Not now, not ever.”
Some fans came out and suggested how Mercedes revealed their favorite driver.
“Don’t say you have favourite driver, but expose it ahh post,” wrote a user
Another commented, “George Russell also needs them, they are 2 pilots not just kimi”
“So, George is not part of the dream? Ok… I’m 100% team George now,” mentioned another
Antonelli currently leads the championship with 100 points, and George Russell in P2, 20 points behind his teammate.
