F1 Fans Cringe With Pain as Mercedes Unveil Celebratory “Red Pig” Livery- A Bad Omen for the Belgian GP?

Formula 1 returns at Spa this weekend after a long summer break. Ahead of the race, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff hinted that they may come out with a special livery this weekend. The Brackley-based constructors will be celebrating a special bond of 55 years with Mercedes-AMG.

The 8-consecutive time Constructors Champions have not raced in a special livery since the haunting race in Germany in 2019 where neither Lewis Hamilton nor Valtteri Bottas could finish the race inside the top 10.

Nevertheless, a potential livery has been leaked on Twitter with red and silver colors and F1 fans are fuming. One fan account labeled the car as “Merari”, indicating a fusion of Ferrari and Mercedes‘ livery.

F1 twitter made their dissatisfaction known as they shared their opinions on Twitter.

On the other hand, a few people joked it was a master plan by Ferrari and Mercedes to beat Red bull in the constructors’ championship. Red Bull is currently 97 points ahead of second-place Ferrari in the championship. 

Fans didn’t forget about the last time Mercedes donned a special livery, either. The announcement opened up a few old wounds inflicted in the Hockenheim circuit.

WATCH THIS STORY: Bizarre 14-Year Coincidence Couldfinally- Crush Lewis Hamilton & Mercedes’ Dominant F1 Streak

The celebration of the bond with AMG will include Lewis Hamilton driving the AMG ONE hypercar, George Russell in the all-new GT3 Edition 55, and team principal Toto Wolff getting to drive the vintage ‘Red Pig’ for a few laps on the circuit.

Will the jinx of Hockenheim’s special livery haunt Mercedes again?

Mercedes fans will not want to remember the last time they raced in a special livery. For the German GP, they revealed a special Hockenheim livery on their W10 cars that honored the heritage of Silver Arrows, celebrated their 125th year of competing in motorsport, as well as their 200th Formula 1 start. 

However, things did not go according to plan and Mercedes had a disastrous outing on race day. Lewis Hamilton led the race but finished the race in 11th position after rain ruptured his plans. Bottas soon followed and collided with the barrier, effectively ending his race.

After the race, Toto said, “I do believe in karma. When you want to do particularly well things can go wrong, maybe you get distracted and maybe you are doing things differently to how you would normally do.”

However, it did end well for Mercedes at the end of the season as they won their 6th straight constructors title and Lewis Hamilton won the Driver’s Championship for the 6th time as well.

READ MORE: Mercedes ‘Inter-Team Battle’ to Feast on in Second F1 Stint as Lewis Hamilton Staggers 12 Points Behind George Russell

Mercedes will be hoping that the bad omen of Hockenheim does not follow them to Spa and jinx their celebration. As F1 returns after 3 weeks, Hamilton and Co. will be hoping for improved performance in the car to challenge Ferrari and Red Bull. Do you think Mercedes can improve their 3rd position in the Constructors Championship?