I wasn’t much active on any of the socials during 2024, can you explain what is emailgate??
Oh my anon its gonna be full
So around the 2024 Spain GP, someone (of the cultLH) sends this to the whole paddock and by mean the whole paddock it's TPs, team execs, notable journos, etc (full article)
So where does it stem from? Early in the year of 2024, it was as usual the car is shite and in the early races LH wasn't performing well especially during the qualifying with him pointing out some problems that he thinks affect his qualifying (notable complaints as far as I remember was in China during the qualifying/practice). One of those problems was cold tyres or the tyres not being heated up enough. And it escalated in Monaco where LH said
“I anticipated it would be difficult to out-qualify George because he has the upgraded component, but it’s just great to see that we are bringing upgrades. But once we got to qualifying... I don’t understand. I already know automatically that I’m going to lose two-tenths going into qualifying, and that’s definitely frustrating and it’s something that I don’t really have an answer for at the moment. I’m not driving any different, the laps were really great, just lacking something”
Here's the thing about that statement: George and Lewis have previously mutually agreed to George taking the upgraded package first.
Speaking to Channel 4, George Russell said that there was only one new front wing for the Monaco Grand Prix. “There was one front wing this weekend and it was agreed on Tuesday that we’d do a coin toss and see who got it. Lewis said he’d tried it on the sim and was happy for me to use it this weekend because it doesn’t go without risk."
So it wasn't like the team favoured George by giving the upgrades to George first. They MUTUALLY agreed to it. And AFAIK, the team chose to bring one to Imola for both cars (?) but it didn't do well so they wanted to experiment with one of the cars first later in Monaco. That's the gist of it.
But the CultLH was mad MAD listening to the first statement Lewis gave and they JUMPED into conclusion (actually since China or even earlier) that a sabotage is happening! The hate train spilled to Canada where it intensifies after George matched the mighty RB belongs to MV and got pole. Hate was so bad that someone shouted that they'd k*** George if he overtake LH on the last lap 😃😃 OP even posted that clip confidently on twitter.
There were 63 days between 19 April 2024 (China GP, where the sabotage accusation got prominent) to 21 June 2024 (Spain GP, when the email broke out) and the team did NOTHING in between. Not even a thing during the death threat in Canada GP, we even tagged the team back then to do something or at least drop the community guidelines post but they did ABSOLUTE NOTHING. (That is partly why 63s were angry the last time Mercedes drop the community guidelines where they have previously done nothing for George)
And so it explodes. It becomes an embarrassment to George for the team's incompetence and ignorance that enables everything to happen. It was so bad that for the first time since Abu Dhabi 2021, the CEO of Mercedes Benz Group decided to publicize his appearance on track and spoke to Sky Sports.
"We've been racing with Lewis for almost 25 years. We, the team, Toto [Wolff, ed.] and I, stand 100 percent behind Lewis. Even if he drives in a different color next year, he will always remain part of the Mercedes family. It's normal for emotions to run high. But this has always been the policy. Both drivers have the same opportunities and the same package to start with." — Ola Källenius, Sky Deutschland
He was seen that week, sitting in George's garage (probably as a subtle support) because how crazy it is and the actual threat actually accuses Mercedes of trying to pull an attempted murder and spread misinformation that Toto and George was in an inappropriate relationship..
Also Toto was ANGRY at that email.
“We have the police enquiring it, 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.”
And yes they called the police. But later on the police concluded that there were no criminal offences (I feel like they could press charge for defamation imo) and the case went dead.
Lewis responded to the emailgate, he didn't stay silent
“We’ve always been a strong team, we’ve always worked really hard together. I think it is easy to get emotional, I think we need support, not negativity. I wasn’t actually aware that George was experiencing any negativity. George has done nothing but his best every single weekend and delivering for the team, so he can’t be faulted at all.”
And there were some other reactions from other people (pundits, drivers, TPs)
“I think I think for me, show me the data. And I'm not saying one side or other is right on this argument, but show me the data. If the team are disadvantaging one driver, the data will be there to prove that. So if somebody who proposes to be a member of the Mercedes team thinks that the data is there, show it. At the moment, 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. Whilst 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 towards money for next year. So even though Lewis isn't going to be in Mercedes next year, the money that he could help them earn will be going to the team. So there's nothing in it for Mercedes to be disadvantaging a driver. That's where this story doesn't add up to me,"
Lando also jumped into George's defense
“Why would Mercedes want to steal points from their own driver?” he asked the press in Barcelona. “Of course, they can’t tell Hamilton everything because he’s going to Ferrari soon, but that’s normal in such a situation. Russell is doing fantastic and people really need to start appreciating him more, This is his sixth season in Formula 1 – he’s here because he’s good enough. He’s incredibly fast. Lewis (Hamilton) is just as good, but he’s just made more mistakes recently. It’s nonsense, the people who say that have very little understanding of racing,” he laughed. “I just find it funny, but you have to keep respecting George (Russell).”
"It’s all a load of rubbish! The only thing that happens within a team when a driver says he is leaving is that they will focus on the other driver as he is the future. They won’t show him the data of the new pieces that are coming along because they wouldn’t want him to take that information with him and maybe talk about it to Ferrari. That is normal for Lewis not to be in the know about everything. As far as doctoring his car so his performances are impacted, that is rubbish. That interferes with the constructors’ championship, the number of points a team wins and the money that they earn from that”
And these reactions dragged over to Abu Dhabi where Jenson and Nico comments over it
“Just so the fans know, no teams want any of their drivers to be slow. Never want them to be slow. So just so you know, Lewis Hamilton will be getting the same equipment. Sometimes the team will have a slight upgrade that goes on one car rather than the other especially for the driver that's staying but it's the same for Checo Perez as well, they want them to be quick”
Nico also said (read here full)
But did George give a response to it? Sadly no. He just said this
“I don’t look on Instagram or Twitter to be honest,” he said. “All of the content that goes on there [under his name] is my captions and my messaging. But social media is a double-edged sword. You see funny things on social media, and it keeps you up to date. But on the flip side, everybody, and not just me, in the limelight receives negativity. It is not something I have seen. I have heard about it, and it is never nice to hear it, but that is the world we live in at the moment and unfortunately any person in the public eye is facing it.”
