Lewis Hamilton reflected on the spectacular incident that occurred during his pit stop at the Belgian Grand Prix. The Brit admits he immediately feared a serious injury for his mechanic.
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Lewis Hamilton experienced a real moment of fear during the Belgian Grand Prix. As he was leaving his pit after his only stop of the race, the Ferrari driver hit one of his mechanics, who was still positioned in front of his car.
Although the incident ultimately ended without injury, the seven-time world champion admitted he immediately feared the worst.
A memory from 2018 came back to his mind
The incident happened during Hamilton’s pit stop under the Virtual Safety Car. After serving his five-second penalty, the Brit received the green light to leave.
At the same time, a mechanic responsible for adjusting the front wing was still in front of the Ferrari. Hamilton hit him at low speed before immediately stopping his car.
The Scuderia driver explains that he immediately thought of a famous episode in Formula 1: the 2018 British Grand Prix, when Kimi Räikkönen accidentally ran over a Ferrari mechanic, causing him a leg fracture.
“During the last stint, we couldn’t adjust the front wing because of the double pit stop. And then… my God, I’m just grateful that my mechanic wasn’t injured.”
“I was watching the lights and I was supposed to go when the car came down from the jacks. I started, then I saw him on my right. I braked as soon as I could.”
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“The only thing I thought about at the moment was Kimi’s accident with a mechanic. That’s really what came to mind. Fortunately, he got up immediately.”
A Ferrari already damaged
Beyond this incident, Hamilton revealed that his Ferrari was heavily damaged from the first lap after his collision with George Russell.
According to the Brit, the contact caused significant aerodynamic damage that affected the rest of his race.
“We lost a lot of aerodynamic downforce. I don’t know the exact numbers yet, but the entire front left part of the floor was torn off.”
Despite this damage and the five-second penalty received for the collision with Russell, Hamilton managed to finish fourth at Spa-Francorchamps.
After the race, the FIA ultimately judged that the Ferrari driver was not responsible for the pit lane incident. No additional sporting penalty was imposed on him, while Ferrari was fined 30,000 euros and will have to review its procedures to prevent such an episode from happening again.
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