The Mercedes F1 team doesn’t seem to catch a break with controversies and reports of tension within the team. At the Spanish GP, the Brackley team encountered an email scandal that claimed that they are ‘sabotaging’ the Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton. On top of that, F1 photojournalist Kym Illman highlighted how there was some “friction” between Hamilton and George Russell in Barcelona.
Illman stated in one of his YouTube videos, “Somebody told me there was a bit of friction at the Mercedes conference today in the hospitality suite with George and Lewis”. While Illman mentioned it wasn’t something big, there was “certainly something there”.
: Former F1 champions warn of potential tension between Lewis Hamilton and George Russell at Mercedes amid Hamilton’s impending move to Ferrari. Jacques Villeneuve anticipates confrontation, citing internal issues within Mercedes, while Jenson Button questions the timing of… pic.twitter.com/srufjrsk9t
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Apparently, that has been the sentiment coming out of the Mercedes garage and Hamilton himself. The seven-time champion has shown a defeated demeanor after losing out to Russell in qualifying consistently.
Besides, the Silver Arrows are also reportedly sidelining Hamilton and holding back information for next season, which is quite natural as the 39-year-old will jump ship to Ferrari. However, Illman hinted that Mercedes may also be giving him a “lesser product” which means an inferior car relative to Russell.
These were the same allegations the email consisted of. Mercedes have naturally denied all contents, and instead claimed that this email also called for a police investigation. However, at this stage, it has become an unnecessary distraction with the Silver Arrows trying to improve their performance on the back of a good Canadian GP.
What is the email scandal around Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton?
This email unexpectedly popped up in the inboxes of senior F1 and FIA officials during the Spanish GP. It deliberately talked about Mercedes sabotaging Hamilton’s season as he will be leaving the team at the end of this season.
Meanwhile, it also claimed that Toto Wolff has been ‘vindictive’ with Hamilton due to his decision to leave Mercedes. However, Wolff has rubbished these claims and called for serious actions. The Austrian stated,
“That’s disturbing, especially when someone is talking about death and things like that in an email like that. That is why I said that we should investigate this fully and call in the police. Online behavior like this needs to stop.”
Wolff cited how people on social media cannot “vilify” teams and drivers as per their liking without any consequence. Thus, he cited how there should be some strict police investigation to track down the source of this email.
