Explained: Why Red Bull and Mercedes are trolling McLaren on social media

F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi - Source: Getty
George Russell, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen at F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi - Source: Getty

McLaren’s official account on the social media platform X uploaded an image of the sunset from the MTC (McLaren Technology Centre) on September 25, 2025. Mercedes and Red Bull’s social media teams took to the platform and trolled the Papaya team in their own way. Let's have a detailed look at why the two rivals are trolling the Papaya team.

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McLaren shared an image of a sunset from the MTC overlooking the man-made lake at the facility in Woking. As the image was captured from inside the building, one of the windows was visible, which had a 63 decal on it. Many people took to the comments and called the team out by suggesting George Russell's presence.

The #63 was likely because it is the year when McLaren was founded (1963). However, people took it for George Russell's racing number, who races with #63, and filled the comments section with it. Mercedes' official account on X then responded to the tweet with an edited version of the sunset image.

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The Mercedes also took a shot at the #63 decal and pasted a smiling cutout of George Russell in the sky. The same is likely a reference to the 2025 Hungarian GP celebration, where George Russell photobombed McLaren's podium celebrations, which gave birth to the “Suddenly George” meme.

Red Bull decided to join in on the trolling and responded to Mercedes' edited sunset images with a version of their own. The admin of Red Bull's official account on X added a yacht in the man-made lake at the MTC with Yuki Tsunoda sitting in it.

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Many fans asked other F1 teams to join in on the action, while others suggested that admins are bored since it's a non-race weekend.


The reason why Red Bull trolled the Papaya team by putting Yuki Tsunoda in a yacht on the McLaren Technology Centre lake

The Japanese driver lost his phone in Lake Como in July during his time in Italy and asked his fans to let him know if they found it. The same led to Red Bull sharing tweets, asking people to contact Yuki if they find an iPhone in the lake, while also uploading a screenshot of the drop location named as “Jason Statham’s son”.

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Tsunoda is a huge fan of Jason Statham, and his performance coach, Michael Italiano, revealed that the Japanese driver changed his iPhone’s airdrop name to “Jason Statham’s son”. Hence, in the edited image to troll McLaren, Tsunoda is sitting without a phone on the yacht.

Silverstone’s official Instagram account asked if Red Bull tried ringing Yuki’s phone. The RBR admins took a shot at Ferrari, as they responded with, “let's add that to the words of wisdom,” referencing Charles Leclerc's team radio from earlier this year

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Edited by Pranay Bhagi
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