Toto Wolff has summoned the authorities to thoroughly investigate explosive allegations that Lewis Hamilton, who is leaving for Ferrari late this year, is being undermined by his current team at Mercedes.
An anonymous message, allegedly authored by a dissatisfied Mercedes employee, was distributed by email among key Formula 1 players and media representatives.
"It's not from a member of the team," Wolff, the Mercedes chief and co-owner, firmly stated in Barcelona.
"On this particular one, I have instructed to go in full force. We have the police investigating it. We are researching the IP address. We are researching the phone, all of that, because online abuse in that way needs to stop," he further declared.
Despite recent remarks by Hamilton hinting he's been treated unjustly, and despite the intense scrutiny from his fervent fanbase, Wolff maintains that there's no resentment within Mercedes regarding Hamilton's impending move to Ferrari.
"We have a friendship. We trust each other. We want to end this on a high," he expressed. "We want to celebrate the relationship. And if you don't believe all of that, then you can believe that we want to win the constructors' world championship.
"And part of the world championship is making both cars win. So to all of these mad people out there, see a shrink."
Ferrari's team principal Frederic Vasseur, to be Hamilton's new boss from 2025, also supported his colleague Wolff when questioned about the sabotage allegations.
"How you could imagine that a company with 1,500 people working night and day, pushing like hell to bring upgrades, could kill one of our cars or damage one of our cars?" Vasseur questioned incredulously.
"This is completely irrational and nobody in the paddock could do something like this," he added.
Meanwhile, on the circuit, the situation looks promising for Mercedes and Hamilton, with the 39-year-old driver posting the fastest time in Barcelona on Friday.
"I still consider McLaren our main rival," Red Bull advisor Dr. Helmut Marko stated to motorsport-magazin.com.
"Hamilton did a very good lap, but we have seen that before. Then in qualifying he disappoints again," Marko noted.
