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Mercedes boss says anonymous accusation that team is sabotaging Hamilton is groundless 'abuse'

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain steers his car during the 1st practice session for the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix at the Barcelona Catalunya racetrack in Montmelo, near Barcelona, Spain, Friday, June 21, 2024. The race will be held on Sunday. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort) (Joan Monfort, Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

MONTMELƓ ā€“ Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says police are investigating an email sent to motorsport journalists and Formula 1 teams claiming that Mercedes is sabotaging the performances of Lewis Hamilton following his decision to leave for Ferrari.

The team had "the police inquiringā€ about the recent email that was sent from an anonymous account, Wolff said at the Spanish Grand Prix on Friday.

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The email alleges Mercedes is intentionally trying to hurt Hamiltonā€™s showings by compromising his car, tire strategy and mental health.

Wolff called those accusations groundless ā€œconspiracy theories."

ā€œWe are researching the IP address. We are researching the phone, all of that, because online abuse in that way needs to stop," he said.

ā€œLewis (has been) part of the team for 12 years. There is a friendship, we trust each other, we want to end this on a high note, celebrate the relationship. And if you donā€™t believe all that, you can believe we want to win the constructorsā€™ world championship. So to all these mad people out there, take a shrink.ā€

Hamilton stunned the F1 world in February when he announced he was leaving Mercedes to join Ferrari in 2025, thereby setting an end date to a partnership that helped him win six of his seven world championships.

Hamilton has been slightly outperformed by teammate George Russell this season. Russell is in seventh place in the driversā€™ standings, six points ahead of Hamilton in eighth. Russell has also clocked faster qualifying times than Hamilton in eight of the nine races so far.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing


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