Bahrain GP: Mercedes' tweet as Red Bull suffered double retirement has gone viral

The Formula 1 season was back with a dramatic bang on Sunday afternoon as Charles Leclerc stormed to victory, bringing home a Ferrari one-two after Red Bull suffered a late double retirement – something that Mercedes profited from big-time.

Leclerc managed to hold off a Max Verstappen challenge in the first third of the race and survived a late Safety Car period to win his third career Grand Prix, and you feel as though there are more on the way this season with the Ferrari looking strong.

For Red Bull, meanwhile, a double retirement in the closing laps was far from what they would have wanted with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez both suffering what looked like similar issues to take them out of the running.

That denied them 2nd and 4th place in the race, and Carlos Sainz and Mercedes were the ones to benefit, with Lewis Hamilton moving up to third to get the Silver Arrows what appeared an unlikely podium given their struggles in testing.

The Merc Twitter account was quick to express their feelings over the promotion, too, with them posting this as events unfolded in the final laps of the race:

You love to see it.

Mercedes may have tweeted this had it been any other team’s misfortune but it’s certainly carried extra clout given the rivalry between the Silver Arrows and Red Bull, which stems from last year’s campaign.

The two garages went toe-to-toe over the course of the entire season last year with things certainly getting a little fraught between them at times.

And, though they were not battling for the lead this afternoon, it’s clear that there still appears to be that strong rivalry between them.

Indeed, many on social media were quick to react and the tweet has gone viral, with it earning nearly 80k likes in under