From ESPN, emphasis mine:
Mercedes have called upon police to investigate the source of an anonymous email accusing the F1 team of trying to deliberately sabotage Lewis Hamilton’s car.
The email, sent to the same list of F1 representatives that received a leak of messages purportedly linked to the Christian Horner sexual misconduct investigation earlier this year, was sent out last week.
Is Mercedes sabotaging its greatest driver ever? I don’t know. I want to be careful how I say this, but I hope they are. Not to the extent it puts Hamilton in danger, but in a petty, anti-competitive way. F1 revolves around a reality television series. A messy breakup is essential.
I wonder how broad that list of representatives is. Is it just all the emails on one section of the F1 website? Or is there reason to believe that the accuser knew who received this winter’s leaks? If it’s the latter, were those names public? That’s the thing that takes this from goofy to goofy–and–intriguing.
A theory here could go that the accuser works for Red Bull. They’re privately familiar with the Horner scandal, and they’re using it to make this more credible. Another theory is that the email distribution list is a coincidence but that the accuser does work for Mercedes, as they claim, and that they’re obsessed with Lewis Hamilton to the point of paranoia on his behalf. Stalker vibes. That kind of thing.
Accusing a team of sabotaging its driver is a genius move, especially when that team’s been making mistakes the last few years. Anything that goes badly for Hamilton over this summer stretch of races is going to look like sabotage. Sabotage! What a fun word.
Meanwhile, McLaren’s hospitality building went up in flames (suffered a minor fire) yesterday. Weird week in Barcelona. Love to see that. Ominous. Ominous! Another fun word.
Pretty tight pack in practice between Ferrari, Mercedes, Lando Norris, and Max Verstappen. I don’t know how much that means. This is the first time I’ve ever looked at practice times. It just kind of happened.
This weekend:
- Friday, 7:30 AM EDT: Practice – ESPN+
- Friday, 11:00 AM EDT: Practice – ESPN+
- Saturday, 6:30 AM EDT: Practice – ESPN+
- Saturday, 10:00 AM EDT: Qualifying – ESPN+
- Sunday, 9:00 AM EDT: Spanish Grand Prix – ESPN
Iowa Loves Iowa, and So Does NASCAR
Great few days in Iowa last weekend for NASCAR. What an environment. Felt like a celebration.
A lot of states love themselves, but Iowa loves itself in a wholesome way. As anyone who’s encountered or experienced RAGBRAI* can testify, the people at Iowa are experienced and adept at celebrating their state. They’re all about it. They love that kind of thing.
*RAGBRAI is a gigantic weeklong bike ride each summer across the state of Iowa.
This played into NASCAR’s hands. NASCAR came to Iowa, Iowans saw an opportunity to celebrate Iowa, and in that celebration they celebrated NASCAR itself. Collateral celebration. Collateral! Yet another fun word.
I wonder where else NASCAR can steer into that kind of self-love. Partner with the St. Louis Cardinals on the Gateway race? Partner with Dead and Company on the Las Vegas race?
News, things lingering from last weekend, this weekend at New Hampshire:
- I like Tyler Reddick, and I love the Hamburglar. So, Reddick’s Hamburglar firesuit was big for me. That was a big moment.
- What happened between Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson? Did Larson just get loose? That got overshadowed once Daniel Suárez became the one to actually wreck Larson out of the race.
- Did Daniel Suárez become a U.S. citizen this week in an attempt to cool the anger at him for the Larson wreck? That would make a lot of things seem premeditated. I feel like one schedules their citizenship ceremony in advance? Impossible to know. I was born in the United States.
- Haas is going to be a one-car team next year, not a zero-car team. Did Gene Haas get a little sad about it ending? It doesn’t seem like he hates being an owner the way Tony Stewart hated being an owner.
- Rainy weekend in New Hampshire. Stormy tomorrow. They say the car is prepared to run in the damp, but it cannot run in active rain, and the speedway doesn’t have lights. Also, maybe I’m giving Hurricane Irene too much historic weight, and maybe I shouldn’t compare a series of thunderstorms to a Category 3 storm, but is New England prone to flooding? Why was that so much worse in Vermont than New Hampshire?
This weekend:
- Saturday, 12:35 PM EDT: Cup Series Practice – USA
- Saturday, 1:20 PM EDT: Cup Series Qualifying – USA
- Saturday, 3:30 PM EDT: SciAps 200 (Xfinity Series) – USA
- Sunday, 2:30 PM EDT: USA Today 301 (Cup Series) – USA
How Do You Say Laguna Seca?
Casual alert: I don’t know how to say Laguna Seca. Well, I think I will by the time you read this, but I don’t know right now, as I write the first draft. Sounds like they say the first syllable the Spanish way (say) but then Americanize the second (kuh instead of kah)?
Guess we’ll find out Sunday.
Théo Pourchaire got fired this week at Arrow McLaren, not because of an Argentinian coup (although, now that I say that, I wonder) but because Nolan Siegel became available, stepping back from NXT earlier this month. Shock move by Zak Brown’s organization. These CEO’s ain’t loyal.
As for this weekend at Laguna Seca: Colton Herta’s won two of the last four. Ganassi cars have won the last two. Team Penske’s on a roll right now. Rolling is essential in motorsports.
This weekend:
- Friday, 5:00 PM EDT: Practice – Peacock
- Saturday, 1:00 PM EDT: Practice – Peacock
- Saturday, 5:15 PM EDT: Qualifying – Peacock
- Sunday, 6:15 PM EDT: Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey – USA
