Lew Beauty
Why Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari crash is a good omen for record F1 world title hopes… but not this year
The year the omen is set to happen could be disrupted by a major change
LEWIS HAMILTON suffered an unfortunate crash for Ferrari on Wednesday.
The 40-year-old, driving in just his second testing session for his new team, lost control of his car in the final part of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
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His car - Ferrari's 2023 Formula One challenger - is said to have sustained "significant" damage to its suspension and some aerodynamic parts.
Fortunately, Hamilton walked away unharmed and with an improved understanding of the hardware he will use throughout the season.
However, his crash could actually be an omen for when he will win his next F1 title.
The last Briton to win the title at Ferrari was John Surtees in 1964, while no driver has ever won an eighth world title before.
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Michael Schumacher is the only other driver to match Hamilton's tally of seven, winning five of his seven titles with the Scuderia between 2000 and 2004.
And Hamilton could now be counting the stars towards title number eight following his crash.
That is because the Stevenage-born racer has ended up winning the title with each of his two previous teams after crashing in pre-season testing.
Hamilton first crashed his car during his rookie season with McLaren in 2007 after losing control of his car and skating across the gravel and into the wall at 186mph during testing Valencia.
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He then repeated this unfortunate event in 2013 after moving to Mercedes as he suffered a break failure at the Circuito de Jerez in Spain.
However, in both cases, Hamilton then went on to win the title in his second season with the team.
Lewis Hamilton visits Ferrari HQ as he arrives at Maranello for his first official day with the Scuderia
Hamilton picked up his maiden F1 World Driver's Championship in 2008 after going agonisingly close in 2007, while he also picked up the first of his six titles with the Silver Arrows in 2014.
History appears to have repeated itself at his third team with his debut season testing crash happening in Spain.
Ferrari finished second in 2024's Constructor's Championship, and will consequently have precious extra time testing aerodynamics in their wind-tunnel over winners McLaren.
F1 2025 grid
Here are the confirmed driver line ups for the F1 2025 season:
Red Bull: Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson
Ferrari: Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes: George Russell and Kimi Antonelli
McLaren: Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri
Aston Martin: Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll
Williams: Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz
Sauber: Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto
Alpine: Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan
RB: Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar
Haas: Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon
That could give the Scuderia a vital edge to winning one of the two titles in 2025.
But should the stars align for Hamilton once again, he should land the World Driver's Championship in 2026, rather than the upcoming season.
That just so happens to be the year new F1 technical regulations hit, with smaller cars and more efficient engines present which could disrupt the playing field.
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The 2025 season gets underway on March 16 in Melbourne, Australia.
Every team will reveal their car liveries at the same time on February 18 at the O2 Arena in London to celebrate F1's 75th anniversary.
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