Lewis Hamilton shares detail about neck injury suffered in "hard" Barcelona F1 testing crash

Lewis Hamilton has revealed he injured his neck in a "very hard" crash while conducting a private Formula 1 test with Ferrari at Barcelona in January last year. 

After claiming an incredible first victory with Ferrari at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, Hamilton let slip that he had picked up an injury at the beginning of 2025 that he “carried for months” during his debut season with the Italian team. 

Hamilton divulged no further details at the time, but has now revealed the extent of the injury that left him requiring physiotherapy treatment, painkillers and injections for several weeks. 

"It is private, but I hit the wall very hard last year in testing and knocked out a disc in my neck, which went into the nerve,” the seven-time world champion told media including Crash.net ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix. 

“I couldn’t do a lot for like nine weeks. I was just having chiropractors every day, physio every day. I couldn’t sleep. Was on painkillers and had to get injections. 

“I did everything I could to try to fix it. So that's that's what I was basically trying to live with, which is not easy in the seat position that you're sitting in.”

Hamilton’s maiden Ferrari victory, coupled with a late retirement for Andrea Kimi Antonelli, has seen the 41-year-old Briton close to within 41 points of the early championship leader. 

Despite the points situation, and Hamilton’s purple patch of form, he insists he is not getting carried away with thoughts of challenging for a record-breaking eighth world title this year. 

“I'm not thinking about the championship,” Hamilton said in response to a question from Crash.net. “I'm thinking about each race, arriving and executing the way we did last weekend at the last race. 

“Because pit stops, strategy, we are all in sync and having that every single weekend is the most important thing. Not thinking about what's going to happen in 15 races time.

“I'm thinking about tomorrow. I'm thinking of one day at a time. I’m really, really proud of of of the whole team back at the factory. 

“I was just saying just in TV's just like every single person on this team brings something to the table, and everyone's levelling up, everyone's pushing that extra bit harder than ever, maybe than they did they have before. We're working more cohesively, more tight-knit than than ever before with great leadership from Fred.

“To see improvements coming that we're asking for, to see them come to Barcelona and also here. They’ve work incredibly hard to take a step with the engine. It's not the whole step, but it's one foot forward, and that's what we got to keep doing, just continue to put one foot in front of the other.”