Lewis Hamilton suffered ‘big’ crash and injury before Barcelona GP win | F1 | Sport

Lewis Hamilton has opened up on how he kept an injury sustained during his first months at Ferrari secret during his first season with the team. The seven-time world champion celebrated his maiden success with the Italian manufacturer at the Barcelona Grand Prix on Sunday and the 41-year-old appeared emotional when standing on top of the podium. Hamilton endured a difficult start to his career with the Scuderia before finding his form towards the tail end of the season.

He became only the 16th driver in F1 history to win a race with three teams and the first since Sebastian Vettel in 2015. While celebrating his 106th win in F1, the British icon confessed to suffering an injury at the Circuit de Catalunya during a “big crash” at the beginning of the 2025 season. However, Hamilton did not divulge any further information about the injury itself, only detailing that the incident affected him throughout the entire season.

“I trained very, very, hard this year,” Hamilton told Viaplay. “Last year was difficult from the beginning because I got injured here, actually, a big crash that I had here last year and I was carrying that injury through the whole year which was really, really difficult.”

Hamilton’s first season in Maranello proved to be a huge disappointment by his lofty standards. It was the first time in his career that he failed to secure a podium over the course of an entire season, although he did have his second-place finish at the United States Grand Prix snatched away following Ferrari’s double disqualification in the race.

In 2026, his fortunes have taken a turn for the better. Hamilton currently sits second in the drivers’ standings with 115 points – 41 points behind leader Kimi Antonelli – and already has four podiums to his name from seven races.

When reflecting on his debut season with Ferrari, Hamilton admitted he doesn’t like dwelling on the past but used his disappointment as fuel to improve by working harder away from the track. “I never like to think about it,” he added. “I’m only human so there’s moments where I see the stuff and for sure there’s moments where I allowed it to get to me and penetrate deeply.

“But then I went through a sequence of unplugging from that matrix. I mentioned it last year, I spent lots of time with family, lots of time with friends, real people that know me, that have never doubted me, have stuck to and by me my whole life.

“Then I just went on the mission from Christmas Day. The training that I put in was harder than I’ve ever experienced, to keep myself in good shape. I think at the beginning of last year I got injured here, actually, and carried that for months.”

Hamilton stunned the world of motorsport when he announced his departure from Mercedes in February 2024 after 12 years with the team. The Silver Arrows now lead the constructors’ championship, leading some to question whether Hamilton made the right call in heading for the exit.

But he doubled down on his confidence in the team to be successful, adding: “I truly believed in my decision in joining Ferrari,” he said. “I truly believed in what this team could achieve, what we could achieve together. I know it started out with lots of excitement and then lots of doubt and lots of negativity that followed through a whole year. And I really feel like my fans really rescued me last year, my family also, and friends that stuck with me through it all.

“Starting into a new season, a new year, lots and lots of changes in the background enabled me to get to this position that I’m in today. I just feel a lot of gratitude and a lot of pride – very, very proud of the people that I work with. They’re so passionate and have so much humility and they are so kind. Seeing them sing the national anthem today was an incredible feeling. Just the best.”