"Good for him speaking out on this": Fans react to Mercedes boss speaking out against online hate directed at the team

F1 fans have reacted to Mercedes honcho Toto Wolff addressing online hate against the team. He also talked about the anonymous email claiming that the team is sabotaging Lewis Hamilton's performance in 2024.

Hamilton was confirmed by Ferrari for 2025 before the 2024 season even began. Following this, Mercedes started searching for a competent driver to replace the seven-time world champion by the end of 2024. Many in the F1 community were impacted by the Brit's departure because his name was synonymous with the team.

In almost every race in 2024, Lewis Hamilton was out-qualified by his teammate, George Russell. Hamilton surprisingly speculated that he would not be able to out-qualify Russell in the entire 2024 season. This sparked rumors about whether Mercedes was favoring Russell over Hamilton.

When Hamilton said that his qualifying tires were cooler than normal at the Canadian GP, these rumors reached their zenith. Given that Russell had a better tire strategy than Hamilton in Canada, the team's strategy was also questioned and criticized by fans on social media.

Furthermore, several F1 journalists received an anonymous email claiming that Hamilton was sabotaged at Mercedes. The sender claimed that they were a team member.

Prior to the 2024 F1 Spanish GP, Toto Wolff addressed all the online hate Mercedes has received over the last few months. He stated that the team is seeking help from the police and also tracking down the IP address of the anonymous emailer.

Many F1 fans praised how Toto Wolff spoke up against the ongoing conspiracies and rumors surrounding his team. They supported him in his quest to stop online abuse against the Silver Arrows.

"Gotta love Toto… he’s alway articulate and steadfast.. Good for him speaking out on this," one fan praised.

"Well spoken Toto," another hailed.

On the other hand, some fans were not convinced and discussed how Hamilton's fanbase was still flared up. Others also pointed out how Wolff never mentioned anything about the colder tire temperatures that the seven-time world champion had to manage during Canadian GP qualifying.

"I don’t care what he says, Mercedes will not get away with this one. Lewis’ fans are on high alert," was one comment.

"He still is not giving an explanation why the tyre blankets from Lewis are colder than the ones from George?" a user questioned.

Even though it has been more than two years since the infamous 2021 F1 Abu Dhabi GP, several fans brought it up and questioned why Wolff did not show this kind of energy during that time.

"I don't buy that the email actually comes from an employee either. And he's right that any abuse should not be tolerated. But all through his little speech i couldn't help but think, where was this attitude in 2021..." a follower asked.

"If only you had that attitude in AD21," another added.

---

Toto Wolff addresses hate comments Mercedes is facing for allegedly disadvantaging Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff recently talked about the online hate his team has been enduring for the last few months now. This was regarding rumors about the team not supporting Lewis Hamilton in races and favoring George Russell.

Speaking at the FIA press conference prior to the Spanish GP, Wolff initially claimed that the anonymous emailer was not a member of the Silver Arrows. He added that the team is inquiring with the police and searching for the IP address to track down the sender.

He boldly said that people cannot hide behind screens and get away with whatever they say on the internet.

“It's not from a member of the team. It is upsetting, particularly when there is someone talking about death and all these things. So we're on this particular one, we have the police inquiring about it,” Wolff said.

“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,” he added.

As of now, there has been no official confirmation about who sent the email and whether the contents of the email were true or not.

When it comes to on-track performance, Lewis Hamilton was happy with the W15's performance around Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. He topped the timing sheets in FP2 and drove 28 laps.