Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has been hit out after an anonymous email was sent claiming Lewis Hamilton was being “sabotaged” and his life was in danger.
Wolff, speaking ahead of Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix, denied the email was from anyone at the team, and blamed “cowards” online. He said the response was to “come up in full force”.
The email, titled “potential death warrant for Lewis” and claimed to be from a Mercedes employee, accused Wolff of being “vindictive” and stated that seven-time F1 world champion Hamilton was “eliminated” as a result of his 2025 move to Ferrari.
The message was sent a day after the Canadian Grand Prix two weeks ago, when Hamilton missed the podium in the final lap as his two-and-a-half-year-old teammate George Russell overtook him on the faster medium tyre, while Hamilton was left to defend on the hard compound rubber.
Mercedes has now confirmed that it has reported the matter to the police and is also conducting its own investigation to find the source of the email, including trying to find the IP address.
Wolff, who despite being disappointed about Hamilton’s transfer, did not hold a grudge in public and insisted the pair had a “friendship”.
“We know this does not come from our team employees and we receive an incredible number of this type of email,” said Wolff, in a strong response when asked at the team chief’s press conference on Friday at the Barcelona circuit.
“It’s disturbing, especially when someone is talking about death and something like that in the email. That’s why I said we need to investigate fully and call the police.
A report led by the FIA, published in February in collaboration with other sports federations such as FIFA and World Athletics, stated that 75 percent of respondents believe that athletes regularly face threats to themselves or their families online.
United Against Online Abuse it was also revealed that 90 percent of respondents believe that social media abuse will cause sportsmen and women to quit their chosen sport.
“This kind of online behavior has to stop,” Wolff added on Friday. “People who sit behind the phone or computer can’t humiliate the team or the drivers in this way. I don’t know the idiots who are there. Lewis has been part of this team for 12 years, we are friends and we trust each other.
“I want to say to all the crazy people out there: go to shrink.”
The email was sent to the same group that received the alleged leaked text between Christian Horner and a female complaint at the center of the Red Bull soap opera at the start of the season in Bahrain.
Read in full: “Some of us in the team are not happy about the systematic sabotage of Lewis, the car, the tire strategy, the race strategy, his mental health, and the unprofessional way Toto, his lover George and others are treating him. .
“Toto took revenge and like his wife who was humiliated, no longer spoke to Lewis, but did everything to get him back. Lewis was excluded and some unknown (sic) things happened that people should know about.
“Ask the questions and the truth will come out. It’s all in the data and recorded. Except for Bono (Peter Bonnington, Hamilton’s race engineer) and us who love Lewis, others are on a dangerous path that could end up threatening the life of Lewis, other drivers, even society. The cold tire strategy is a guarantee of death.
“Toto, George be careful and be right. Not all of us are ready to be a part of Lewis’s unprofessional destruction that is unfair to our own satisfaction.
As for Hamilton, who asked for “support, not negativity” when asked about the topic on Thursday, he spoke on the track when he was fastest in Friday’s second practice session.
Hamilton, who won for the sixth time in Barcelona, ​​​​​​​​set a time 0.022 seconds faster than the man he replaces at Ferrari next year, Carlos Sainz in second, with Lando Norris (fastest in the first practice) third in the second session of the day .
Max Verstappen was not satisfied with the Red Bull car, complaining of understeer, and was only fifth fastest while Hamilton’s teammate Russell was eighth on the timesheet.
At a circuit that has been used for testing in the past, it is expected that this weekend will tell fans that the chasing pack can challenge Max Verstappen and Red Bull for the title this season. And two weeks after wet-dry chaos in Montreal, rain is also forecast for Sunday afternoon’s grand prix.