Driving a Formula 1 car requires a lot of training to commandeer a vehicle over 150-180 miles per hour. The F1 drivers are high-performance athletes, who train week in and week out to be the best version of themselves. Yet, they are also humans who are prone to making mistakes. Even the seven-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton, has crashed his multi-million dollar machinery.

In an interview with Top Gear, the Brit opined about the amount of effort it takes to drive an F1 car. He said, “They are, they are very, very hard. When you are at high speed when you’re doing a 150-180 mile an hour and you’re through a corner and you hit a bump, you try to correct it and the thing with you know it would shoot you off so.”

After listening to Lewis, Jeremy Clarkson asked, “Are you fearless? Because I think you’ve already said how many if you’re gonna die on the track, so be it and kind of attitude.”

He replied, “I don’t think, I’m not looking to waste my life but you know I’m, I’ve never had that problem of being scared you know.”

Clarkson emphasized, “You never ever think what if the wheel comes off now or you know.”

The Briton then shared his crash experience. “No you know I’ve, I’ve had that problem this year a couple times.”

“It is actually quite exciting when you know you’re flying head first into a barrier, the initial part, the initials parts actually quite is.”

“Especially when you hit the gravel trap and you get some air as well yeah that’s pretty cool but then you see it coming right it’s gonna hurt.”

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“You do actually at the moment think it’s gonna hurt?” exclaimed the Top gear host.

To which Hamilton replied, “I had a really good one this year which is the beginning of the season and this car, the team worked very hard to get two brand new cars out for the first test and I shunted it so 180 miles an hour, backwards into the wall.”

“And I remember going over the gravel backwards thinking okay this is gonna and just bracing myself and I put my head back and it was actually quite a nice shunt.”

Many say that a driver should retire from F1, the day they face fear inside the cockpit. Despite crashing his McLaren that year, Hamilton went on the win his maiden world title.

For the Brit, speed is second nature and his triumph in the following years does the talking for him.

Lewis Hamilton: Expensive 2022 crash

Earlier in the 2022 season, Mercedes suffered a double blow with both cars ending up in the barriers. At the Red Bull ring, the team looked to find its feet back in the championship and was in prime position to clinch pole position. However, a mistake from Hamilton and Russell ended their qualifying in misery.

This expense came at the worst possible time for the Germans, as it is a year that is domineered by a cost cap on the budget. The FIA increased the budget by 3.1% because of inflation. Nevertheless, the woes of Austria ended up costing them a third of the increased financial allowance.

Hamilton reflected on his crash by saying, “I’m incredibly disappointed in myself, ultimately. I’m so sorry to the team, everyone worked so hard to put this car together and I never like to damage it or bring it back damaged.”

“We were fighting for a top three I think, and I don’t have an answer for what happened. I just lost the back end in Turn 7 and that was that.”

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The Austria crash not only cost the team some big bucks, but also cost him his maiden shot at pole position this year. With 9 races remaining in the championship, do you think the 37-year-old can put his W13 on the first grid spot?