Watch: A Young Lewis Hamilton Talks About the Adrenaline Rush of a Formula One Crash

Back the 2007 Formula One season, a younger Lewis Hamilton appeared on Top Gear. The then McLaren driver spoke to presenter Jeremy Clarkson on a variety of subjects in Formula One. One interesting section of the conversation pertained to what it felt like to have a crash in a Formula One car.

Lewis Hamilton even made a surprising revelation about crashing, which he said was quite ‘exciting’. He quickly clarified himself, saying that it is the initial part of the incident, with the adrenaline rush. He confessed that it mostly occurs when a driver hits the gravel trap and there is a brief moment when the car goes airborne.

Is crashing really as poetic as Lewis Hamilton describes it?

However, Lewis Hamilton assured that the feeling of excitement quickly vanishes when the tyre barrier starts to fill the vision. That is when he realises, “It’s gonna hurt”, and then reality strikes him hard and fast. Hamilton also described one incident where he had a bad crash and the McLaren team slaved away on the car, prior to the crash.

They even brought out two brand new cars for the opening pre-season test, but it was all for nought. Lewis Hamilton managed to wreck the car after he spun and went backwards, at around 180 miles and hour towards a wall. All the helpless Briton could do was put his head back and brace for impact. However, jhe did confess that “It was a pretty nice shunt”.

Since then, Lewis Hamilton has come a long way and bagged 6 world championships. Five of those came from his current team, Mercedes. Admittedly, Lewis Hamilton is out of contract at the end of the 2020 season, and the pressure is on, since Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen already signed contracts. However, Hamilton insisted that he is in no hurry to decide his future and will take his time, amid all the rumours.