Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff did not mince his words on Friday when it came to calling out the online abuse the team has endured, which escalated toward George Russell after the Canadian Grand Prix.
The 26-year-old has had a stronger start to the season than Lewis Hamilton, who will leave the Silver Arrows and join Ferrari in 2025. Russell has out-qualified his teammate 8-1 and out-scored Hamilton 69-55. Following his podium finish in Canada, hate towards Russell escalated on social media platforms like X and Instagram. Last week, team personnel and members of the media, including The Athletic, received an anonymous email accusing Mercedes of sabotaging Hamilton’s car.
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Wolff denied a rumor that the email originated from a team member.
“It’s not from a member of the team. When we are getting these kind of emails, and we’re getting tons of them, it is upsetting, particularly when somebody is talking about death and all these things,” Wolff said. “So, on this particular one, I have instructed to go in full force. We have the police inquiring (about) it. We are researching the IP address. We are researching the phone, all of that, because online abuse in that way needs to stop. People can’t hide behind their phones or their computers and abuse teams or drivers in a way like this.
“I don’t know what some of the conspiracy theorists and lunatics think out there. Lewis was part of the team for 12 years. We have a friendship. We trust each other. We want to win this. We want to end this on a high. 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 constructors’ world championship is making both cars win. So to all of these mad people out there… take a shrink.”
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur weighed in on the topic, calling it “completely irrational” given this is a championship fight.
“How you could imagine that a company with 1,500 people working night and day, pushing like hell to bring upgrades – and for you (fans), it’s not enough – but bringing upgrades each race, (that) we could kill one of our cars or damage one of our cars?” Vasseur said. “This is completely irrational, and nobody in the paddock could do something like this.”
Hamilton has denied any Mercedes bias against him. He said Thursday that he hadn’t seen the anonymous email, but the seven-time world champion quickly dismissed the accusations and hate and backed his teammate.
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“I think we need support, not negativity. I wasn’t actually aware that George was experiencing negativity,” Hamilton said. “George does nothing but his best every single weekend, and he’s developing with the team. He can’t be faulted at all. Of course, there can always be things that are better within the team. And that comes through conversation, through communication. And that’s something that we’ve been consistently working on.
“But we’re all in the same boat. We’re all working hard together. We all want to finish on a high, and I feel we owe that to our long-term relationship.”
Russell said Thursday he doesn’t check X or Instagram but described social media as “a really double-edged sword.”
The topic of online abuse continues to arise within the world of F1, both in formal and informal capacities. The harassment and abuse extend beyond the 20 drivers and 10 teams. Volunteers and officials have received death threats in recent years. In July 2022, F1 launched the “Drive It Out” campaign after fans endured sexual harassment as well as racist and anti-LGBTQ+ behavior by spectators. The first-ever United Against Online Abuse conference took place last month, with international sporting federations (including the FIA), politicians and tech companies meeting to discuss how to combat it. One option is artificial intelligence.
“There will always be people that have their laptop on the chest in their bedroom and just typing away,” Wolff said. “And if people feel like they’re abusing, want to abuse and hit out and hide behind a made-up Instagram account or anything else, that for me is… Come up, say who you are, and we’ll take the criticism and discuss, but don’t hide.”
There’s no logical reason why a team would intentionally sabotage one of its cars when millions of dollars are on the line, even with Mercedes sitting fourth in the constructor standings. As Wolff noted, they want to win with Hamilton, even with his looming departure.
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“We want to be successful with the most iconic driver the sport has ever had. The privilege that we had to work with Lewis as an incredible driver, a great personality, that goes through the ups and downs like any other like any other sports person,” Wolff continued. “I totally respect the reasons for him going to Ferrari. There is no grudge. There is no bad feeling. The interaction we have in the team is positive. And so every comment from the outside of what is going in the team is just simply wrong.
“But there’s always a limit.”
Additional reporting from Luke Smith.
Top photo: Vince Mignott/MB Media/Getty Images
