Lewis Hamilton’s Monaco GP claim, which seemingly hinted at Mercedes favoring George Russell, set off an unprecedented wave of negativity. “I don’t anticipate being ahead of George in qualifying this year,” he said mysteriously after getting out-qualified for the 7th time in 2024. The LH army lashed out at the Silver Arrows for being biased. Moreover, fan sentiment worsened after the Canadian GP fiasco. To counter the rising allegations, Mercedes Technical Director James Allison has finally broken his silence on the matter.

In Canada, Hamilton’s tire strategy was messed up while Russell’s race, from a strategic POV, was flawless. Fans flocked to Mercedes’ social media pages, accusing them of ‘sabotaging’ the 7x champion’s race. James Allison attempted to justify their decision in the post-race debrief, but it backfired. His explanation was labeled a failed ‘PR’ attempt. However, the British engineer has taken another go at defending Mercedes, but this time, he has addressed Hamilton’s Monaco GP comment.

“If you try and read into that stuff that isn’t there like, somehow he’s got a systematic disadvantage on qualifying day, that’s not true and not fair,” Allison said on the Beyond the Grid podcast. “So far as we can make it, the cars are identical,” he emphasized, adding, “The engine use is identical. If the cars are different on setup, it’s because that’s what the driving-engineering team on either side of the garage has iterated to. But they have the chance to have identical stuff.”

Zeroing in on the Monaco GP mystery, Allison explained why only Russell was given an upgraded front wing. “On one occasion this year in Monaco, they famously had a different front wing on the car because we only had one available. We took the decision that we would get the wing on the car as soon as we could. So we had to get it on one or the other car. We had a conversation, then Lewis said, ‘Let George have it’.”

Mercedes is facing a PR nightmare at the worst time for them. Handling off-track controversies should’ve been the least of their concerns when performance is finally returning. Meanwhile, arch-rival Red Bull’s rising expectations paint a gloomier picture for them.

Helmut Marko fires a stern warning to Lewis Hamilton & Co ahead of the Spanish GP

Red Bull’s last upgrade package came ahead of the Emilia Romagna GP. Surprisingly, their performance tanked instead of improving. This led to James Allison taunting them for installing an upgrade that was a “downgrade”. Eventually, Christian Horner had the last laugh after Max Verstappen won in Imola.

This time around, it is Helmut Marko that begins the war of words. “The competition has made up ground, no question about it,” the Austrian wrote in his Speedweek column. “But we are not worried. There are further improvements to the car, which are promising based on the data.” Marko also took a cheeky dig at Ferrari, McLaren, and Mercedes, saying, “We don’t have one opponent, but three, who are snatching points from each other. I hope it stays that way.”

All of the Top 4 teams have upgrades planned for the European triple header, beginning in Spain. The versatility of those upgrade packages to adapt to different circuits will decide who comes out as the top dog going into the summer break. Will Lewis Hamilton be the surprise package that changes the pecking order when F1 returns to Spain this weekend?