‘My heart sank’ - Lewis Hamilton feared Kimi Raikkonen repeat after hitting mechanic in F1 Belgian GP

Lewis Hamilton feared he could have seriously injured one of his Ferrari Formula 1 mechanics after an incident in the pit lane at the Belgian Grand Prix. 

Seven-time world champion Hamilton was caught up in a scary incident during his one and only pit stop under the second virtual safety car period in Sunday’s race.

All four wheels were changed without a problem but Hamilton struck a crew member as he pulled away from his pit box. The mechanic had attempted to make a late effort to change the balance of Hamilton’s front wing but was hit by Hamilton’s front-right tyre, knocking him to the ground. 

Hamilton immediately stopped and the mechanic, who was uninjured, was pulled to one side, before the 41-year-old Briton continued on his way after the delay. 

Ferrari was handed a €30,000 fine, €10,000 of which is suspended for a year, after admitting to an "inappropriately late instruction for the wing adjustment, a lack of clear communication and the mechanic's failure to notice the green light”. 

Speaking about the confusion after the race, Hamilton revealed he was worried about a repeat of a botched Ferrari pit stop at the 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix, when Kimi Raikkonen accidentally ran over one of his mechanics and broke his leg. 

"The green light went and so I went," Hamilton told Sky Sports F1. "You're looking over here [to the left at the lights] you're not looking over there so that's more probably on the team, ultimately.

"But when it happened, then I noticed him and I stopped and it just went through my mind in that moment was back when Kimi hit and [a mechanic] broke a leg and my heart really sank for a second.

"I'm really grateful he's OK.”

Hamilton recovered from a five-second penalty for causing a collision with George Russell on the opening lap, to finish fourth at Spa-Francorchamps. 

It was a drama-filled weekend for Hamilton, who suffered a heavy crash at the end of final practice that left him on the back foot heading into qualifying. Hamilton says he takes “full responsibility” for how his weekend ultimately panned out. 

“I don’t count myself unlucky. I think about the mistake I made yesterday, so I take full responsibility for the fourth place that I ended up getting,” Hamilton admitted. 

“I damaged the car, then they rebuilt the car, they missed something on the suspension so the balance was completely different. That meant I was a good couple of tenths, maybe three tenths slower than I should have been in qualifying. Then I got the five-second penalty. 

“So just a domino effect from a mistake from myself. The team have been doing a great job with strategy, pit stops. We are continuing to improve the car and I think our pace today without the damage, I think we could have been challenging for the win.”