Ghosts from the Canadian GP have returned to haunt Lewis Hamilton in Spain. In Montreal, the 7-time champion unusually struggled in qualifying while teammate George Russell heroically took Pole position. Though Hamilton finally out-qualified the 26-year-old in Barcelona yesterday, his race start was subpar while Russell, starting in P4, took the lead easily, overtaking his teammate, Max Verstappen, and Lando Norris before Turn 1. A video clip of Hamilton’s formation lap is now doing the rounds on social media, fueling the “sabotage” accusations that Mercedes is facing.

Team Principal of the Silver Arrows, Toto Wolff, announced on Friday that they launched a police investigation into an anonymous email sender’s claims that Mercedes is intentionally “sabotaging” Lewis Hamilton’s races. This theory had popped up on social media after the 7x champ’s mysterious Monaco GP claim about a George Russell bias.

In Canada too, Hamilton found himself easily out-qualified by Russell. Post-qualifying, he claimed that his tire temperatures were not optimal, hinting at foul play with the tire blankets in his garage. A very similar fate has ensued at the Spanish GP. After the formation lap, the 39-year-old complained to his race engineer, Peter Bonnington aka Bono, on the team radio. “Tires are very low in temp,” he said, experiencing déjà vu. To his surprise, “We’re happy,” was the reply he got.

This small interaction can lead the LH army to lash out at Mercedes once again. The wave of negativity that Toto Wolff & Co is facing since the Canadian GP is appalling. However, just focusing on their Spanish GP expectations, Hamilton was never confident about matching McLaren and Red Bull.

Lewis Hamilton’s dismal pre-race prediction in Spain

For the first time in 2024, Lewis Hamilton has secured a Top 3 starting grid position. Despite this, Toto Wolff was unhappy, expressing his disappointment with not qualifying higher in Barcelona. This implied that the upgraded W15 with the new front wings was quick enough to overcome even the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.

However, Hamilton expected otherwise. When questioned if he could sustain his position to finish on the podium, the Briton replied, “I hope so. That is the goal. It’s going to be dependent on the weather. It’s creating up a little bit and tire degradation is going to come into play.” He then declared that expecting a higher finish was out of question. “The McLarens and Red Bulls are out of reach potentially, but nonetheless we will be pushing to get close,” he concluded.

Lewis Hamilton’s battle with Carlos Sainz in Lap 18 and 19 shows how the Silver Arrows have progressed by leaps and bounds. His race-craft has been exemplary except the start that was botched with the unusually cooler tires. Hopefully, Mercedes can get their second podium of the year and rid themselves of the ‘sabotage’ accusations.