Mercedes has hired private investigators to trace the source of anonymous emails and SMS messages claiming Lewis Hamilton is being “sabotaged” by his own team.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued today, Northamptonshire Police said no crime has been committed.
But Mercedes will not let the matter go. A spokesperson for the team confirmed to Mail Sport that they had outsourced the matter to a company specializing in this type of investigation.
“This is being addressed externally,” said the spokesperson, who did not want to give further details about the identity of the specialists involved.
This development comes after Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff declared last week that he would “go full force” in the face of the accusations, made on June 10, the day after the penultimate race in Canada, and sent to members of the Formula One community.
That email, which at least purported to be from a team member, had the emotive subject line: “A possible death sentence for Lewis,” arguing that the seven-time world champion was in danger by receiving cold tires, an accusation amplified in the SMS.
The correspondence claimed that a “despised” Wolff was favoring his other driver, George Russell, after Hamilton announced his decision to move to Ferrari next year.
Ahead of last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, where Hamilton finished third, one place ahead of Russell, Wolff denounced the content of the email, saying: “It is not from a team member. But it is disturbing, especially when someone talks about death.
“I don’t know what some of the conspiracy theorists, lunatics, out there think.”
A spokesperson for Northamptonshire Police said today: “Northamptonshire Police received a report on June 12 regarding an email that had been circulated within the Mercedes AMG F1 team.
‘No crime has been found to have been committed. However, advice was given regarding other emails the team may receive.”
Mail Sport understands that the advice was to contact them if more such emails arrived.
A Mercedes spokesperson indicated that the team believes the email was sent by a random Hamilton fan.
