Chants of “sabotage” plagued Mercedes on social media after they seemingly favored George Russell over Lewis Hamilton at the Canadian GP. The LHarmy lashed out at Toto Wolff & Co. for putting their 7-time champion on an unfavorable tire strategy, costing him a podium. The social media pages of the Silver Arrows are still filled with such comments. But countering this “ridiculous” movement is former Ferrari manager Peter Windsor.

The Montreal track had dried up when the second safety car came. While Mercedes switched George Russell onto the Medium tires, the quicker option, Lewis Hamilton’s W15, was put on the Hards because he had no new Mediums left. Eventually, Russell made an easy overtake on him to secure a P3 podium finish. This was horribly criticized by Hamilton fans. Mercedes Technical Director James Allison’s attempts at justifying their strategy brought another wave of negativity their way. But Peter Windsor believes all this to be utter garbage.

“What happened in Canada and what’s happening now is a bit nonsensical for people to criticize,” Windsor said on Cameron F1’s YouTube channel, adding, “Because Lewis is doing a good job and you could argue, ‘If they’re that against Lewis, why are they giving him upgrades at all? Why aren’t they just keeping him in the car as it was at the start of the year?’ Those criticisms about the tire choice are ridiculous because we know there were no Mediums left. The Soft wasn’t gonna go the distance,” he added, giving his take on their tire strategy.

Elaborating on the need for the tire change, he noted, “As for if you bring him in or don’t bring him in, that’s all part of strategy which can benefit some drivers on one day, and other drivers on others. I don’t think you can say ‘sabotage’. It’s just childish rubbish, isn’t it, people saying that?“

Hamilton fans might also have acted on his Monaco GP comments, which hinted at a Russell bias in Mercedes. However, Windsor wasn’t alone in siding with Mercedes as another F1 analyst backed the Toto Wolff-led team against accusations.

Mercedes acquitted of ‘sabotaging’ Lewis Hamilton in their win-less era

In his last year at Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton has stopped defending the team’s failures. He unabashedly described the Canadian GP as “one of the worst races” of his F1 career. Moreover, the Briton even exposed how the team didn’t notify him of George Russell’s tire strategy during the race. This, coupled with other telling signs this year, enraged the LHarmy, and ‘sabotage’ accusations followed. But why will a team with rare podium chances sabotage their own season?

“I don’t think that’s (sabotage theories) true whatsoever,” F1 Journalist Lauren Edmondson said on ESPN’s Unlapped podcast, continuing, “You know Mercedes have no interest whatsoever right now in hampering or hamstringing one of their cars. Why would they at the moment? They’re struggling to get podiums.”

The Silver Arrows’ last win was Russell’s comprehensive victory at the 2022 Brazilian GP. To witness them fall in this disgraceful way after winning 8 constructors’ championships is heartbreaking. Emotions pile up and such controversies occur. Hopefully, it will be smooth sailing the Spanish GP onwards so that Lewis Hamilton gets the perfect farewell he deserves.

What’s your take on this ‘sabotage’ theory? Share your thoughts in the comments below.