Allegations of sabotage

“Not a criminal offense!” Police agree with Mercedes boss

The British police do not consider the e-mail containing allegations of sabotage against the Mercedes Formula 1 team and team boss Toto Wolff to be a criminal offense. This was announced by the authorities on Tuesday. 

Two weeks ago, an anonymous email was sent to Formula 1 officials and journalists alleging that Lewis Hamilton was being disadvantaged internally in favor of team-mate George Russell. Wolff angrily rejected the allegations and called in the police.

"No criminal offences have been identified," a spokeswoman for Northamptonshire Police told the PA news agency. "However, recommendations have been made regarding further emails the team may receive." Authorities reportedly advised Mercedes to report any further emails of this nature immediately. It is not yet known who wrote the letter.

Vindictive?
In the email, Wolff was accused of being "vindictive". The team boss would allegedly do everything possible to take revenge on Lewis Hamilton because he had decided to leave Mercedes next year and switch to rival Ferrari. Hamilton's car had also been sabotaged. Wolff spoke of "crazy conspiracy theories". He received support from Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur, who described the accusations as "completely irrational".

Lewis Hamilton had expressed his disappointment after a frustrating qualifying session in Monaco at the end of May. "I don't expect to be ahead of George in qualifying this year," he said at the time. This was followed by rumors that Mercedes preferred Russell because he would be driving for the team for longer.