F1 Grand Prix of CanadaLewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes looks on, on the grid

F1 fans gave their take to Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur after he criticized the allegations of Mercedes sabotaging Lewis Hamilton in the 2024 season. Heading into the Spanish GP, an alleged email was leaked in the paddock claiming that the German team was ‘disadvantaging’ the seven-time world champion and favoring George Russell in the past races.

The 39-year-old’s swansong with the Brackley-based team hasn’t gone up to either of their expectations as he had been comprehensively outperformance in the 2024 season so far by his young compatriot.

The reports of Mercedes sabotaging Lewis Hamilton did not sit well with either party and they gave their stern responses in the media. However, Hamilton’s future team boss Frederic Vasseur wasn’t convinced by the allegations and said (via The Race):

“How could you imagine that a company with 1500 people working night and day, pushing like hell to bring upgrades… [that] we could kill one of our cars or [deliberately] damage one of our cars? This is completely irrational and nobody in the paddock could do something like this.”

F1 fans took to social media to give their reactions to the Ferrari team principal’s comments on X, with some welcoming him to the Lewis Hamilton fan clubs, saying:

“Enjoy that fanbase, Fred, it’s just the beginning,” said a fan.

Another fan said:

“He’s absolutely right. What could Mercedes possibly gain from sabotaging Lewis.”

Another claimed:

“Fred knows. We know. Don’t know why it’s so difficult to believe that GR can be outperforming LH on merit.”

“Lewis fans just can’t accept that the best years of Lewis are behind him now and his Ferrari move is more about marketing and PR. Leclerc will still be their golden boy on track,” pointed out another.

Lewis Hamilton encourages the team ahead of the Spanish GP

Lewis Hamilton stated that he and the team were aware of the efforts that they have made together during their 12-year tenure in the sport.

As per Sky Sports, the seven-time world champion said:

“I think they know if you look over the years, we’ve always been a strong team. We’ve always worked really hard together. I think it’s easy to get emotional. But I think it’s always… I even commented in the last race, for example, just about my performance.

“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.”

Hamilton has been outperformed in the races by his Mercedes teammate 2-6 when they have both finished while George Russell has dominated ‘the Greatest Qualifier in F1 history’ over a single lap as he leads him 8-1 in races and is tied 1-1 in the two Sprints thus far.