Wolff calls police amid Hamilton sabotage claims

Toto Wolff has called in the police to get to the bottom of wild claims that Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton is being sabotaged by Mercedes’ F1 team.

The anonymous email, purported to have been sent by a disgruntled Mercedes staffer, was sent to all major Formula 1 stakeholders and journalists.

"It’s not from a member of the team," Mercedes boss and co-owner Wolff insisted 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 added.

Although Hamilton’s own comments recently have hinted at unfair treatment, and the seven time world champion’s fans are some of the most toxic on social media, Wolff insists Mercedes has no reason to be angry about the Ferrari move.

"We have a friendship. We trust each other. We want to end this on a high," he said. "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."

Interestingly, Hamilton’s next Formula 1 team boss, Ferrari’s Frederic Vasseur, publicly backed up his friend Wolff when also asked about the sabotage claims.

"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?" said the Frenchman.

"This is completely irrational and nobody in the paddock could do something like this."

On the track, things are going better for Mercedes and Hamilton recently, with the 39-year-old driver actually quickest of all in Barcelona on Friday.

"I still consider McLaren our main rival," Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko told motorsport-magazin.com.

"Hamilton did a very good lap, but we have seen that before. Then in qualifying he disappoints again."