David Croft weighs in on conspiracy theories of Lewis Hamilton being sabotaged at Mercedes

F1 pundit David Croft has claimed that he would only believe that Mercedes were sabotaging Lewis Hamilton's car if he saw supporting data. An alleged leaked email that was making the rounds on social media ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend indicated that the German team was deliberately sabotaging the seven-time world champion's vehicle in recent races.

The email's subject line implied that the sender was a member of the Brackley team and disclosed that some team members were unhappy with the behavior of team principal Toto Wolff towards Lewis Hamilton.

Speaking with Sky Sports, David Croft mentioned that he did not see the point of Mercedes favoring any of the two drivers despite the fact that Hamilton will leave the team at the end of the 2024 season. He said:

"Show me the data and I'm not saying one side or other is right on this argument. If the team are disadvantaging one driver the data will be there to prove it. If somebody who purports to be a member of the Mercedes team thinks the data is there, show it."

The F1 commentator added that there was no logic behind Mercedes sabotaging Hamilton as they are competing against the likes of Ferrari, McLaren, and Red Bull in a tight 2024 season:

"I don't understand why Mercedes would want to disadvantage a driver, even if that driver is going at the end of the season to Ferrari. While Lewis is still a Mercedes driver he is earning points in the Constructors' Championship that gets turned into prize money at the end of the season and every point counts and every position counts."

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Lewis Hamilton comments on George Russell facing online criticism

Lewis Hamilton defended Mercedes teammate George Russell amidst reports of the team favoring the latter over the seven-time world champion.

The 39-year-old pointed out that his young compatriot wasn't doing anything wrong, as he was doing his job by outperforming him in the 2024 season. He told the media (via Sky Sports):

"George has done nothing but his best every single weekend and is delivering for the team, so he can't be faulted at all.

"Of course, there can always be things done better within the team, and that comes through conversation, through communication, and that's something that we are consistently working on."

Lewis Hamilton further revealed that they were all 'in the same boat" and "working hard together" as they wanted to "finish on a high'.

"But we're all in the same boat. We're all working hard together. We want to finish on a high and feel that we owe that to our long-term relationship that we've had," he said.

George Russell led 8-1 in qualifying and has finished ahead of Hamilton six times out of the eight times the two drivers have finished the race.