Mercedes boss Wolff rejects 'sabotage' claims

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has rejected claims in an anonymous email that Lewis Hamilton’s car has been “sabotaged” by the team this year.

The letter, which claims to be written by a Mercedes team member, was sent to senior figures in Formula 1 including Wolff and members of the media.

Wolff rejected the claims in the letter as “mad” and said he and Hamilton were determined to end their relationship on a high following his decision to drive for Ferrari from 2025.

He added that the team had asked the police to investigate the origins of the email.

Wolff said: “It is not from a member of the team. When we get these emails - and we get tonnes of these kinds of emails - it is upsetting, particularly when someone is talking about death.

“So on this one I have instructed (the team) to go on full force. We have the police inquiring, we are researching the email address and telephone.

“Online abuse like that has to stop. People can’t hide behind their computers and abuse teams or drivers like this.

“I don’t know what some of the conspiracy theorists and lunatics think out there, but Lewis was on the team for 12 years, we trust each other, and we want to end on a high.

“And if you don’t believe that, you can believe we want to win the constructors’ championship and that needs both cars."

The email suggested that Hamilton was being disadvantaged by the team deliberately in comparison with team-mate George Russell.

Hamilton, who is leaving Mercedes at the end of the season to join Ferrari, said at the Spanish Grand Prix on Thursday that he was not aware of the email.

He said: "Of course, things can always be done better within the team and that comes through conversations and communication. That is something we are consistently working on. We all want to finish on a high and I feel we owe that to our long-term relationship.”

Russell said: “I don't look on Instagram or Twitter.

“You see funny things on social media and it keeps you up to date but on the flip side, everybody, and not just me, in the limelight receives negativity.

“It is not something I have seen, I have heard about it, and it is never nice to hear it, but that is the world we live in and unfortunately any person in the public eye is facing it.”