Lewis Hamilton was involved in two separate incidents where he risked injuring himself before his Ferrari debut.
Lewis Hamilton avoided a potentially nasty accident for the second time in the space of a week after starring at a Ferrari promotional event this week in Italy. The 40-year-old is preparing for a new adventure in Formula One after engineering his blockbuster move for the 2025 season, ending his 12-year association with the Mercedes team. But Hamilton has not had the smoothest of landings since joining the Italian manufacturer in January. Just a week ahead of his debut at the Australian Grand Prix, Hamilton was fortunate to avoid injury when he stepped out of the cockpit of a previous Ferrari F1 car at a fan exhibition on the streets of Milan on Friday.
As he looked up and waved to the fans serenading him, Hamilton didn’t appear to watch his footing as he stepped onto the front left tyre. Drivers usually make use of the tyre as a safe place to plant their feet as opposed to damaging the fragile pieces of bodywork. However, he was seemingly unaware that the team’s mechanical crew had jacked the car up, meaning the tyre was able to spin, and he gave himself an almighty scare when it rotated forwards – causing him to lose his balance.
But instead of falling to the left or right, which may have resulted in a serious injury, Hamilton landed nonchalantly on the tyre beneath him and hopped off. Had he lost his footing, Hamilton could’ve easily done some damage to his ankle, which might’ve put his debut drive under question.
It was the second time in the space of a week that Hamilton was fortunate to escape sustaining damage to his feet after a bizarre incident at F1 testing in Bahrain. Having boarded a golf cart in the paddock, the Ferrari star sat on the back and slipped, jumping off in a hurried manoeuvre while the cart was still moving. He then skipped away, almost embarrassed by his failure to stay on the cart, as his F1 rivals raced off without him.
While some members of the Tifosi might’ve been more concerned after watching the near-miss happen in front of them, Hamilton had the calm aura of a seven-time champion and carried on without much fuss – almost as if his near-fall never happened.
Ferrari have not shied away from exhibiting their all-star driver lineup ahead of the 2025 season curtain raiser in Melbourne next week. After unveiling Hamilton at their HQ in Maranello, the Scuderia threw a massive party on the streets for its loyal fanbase and paraded their two drivers in front of thousands of Prancing Horse supporters
Hamilton and Leclerc jumped behind the wheel of one of their older models and burned some rubber on the tarmac with a few trademark ‘doughnuts’, as well as some light drifting.
But they will be hoping to keep their cars on the straight and narrow when the lights go out Down Under on March 16.
