Hamilton reveals severe neck injury from 2025 Ferrari testing crash

Lewis Hamilton has revealed the severe neck injury that haunted his first year at Ferrari, confirming he knocked out a disc during his pre-2025 testing crash at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The seven-time champion said the injury left him unable to sleep and required daily treatment for nine weeks, offering a stark explanation for his podium-free debut campaign. Now recovered, Hamilton has turned the corner in 2026, securing his maiden Ferrari victory at the very track where the accident occurred.

Why it matters:

The disclosure reframes Hamilton's entire 2025 season, which ended without a podium for the first time in his Formula 1 career. A disc protruding into a nerve is a brutal condition for any driver contending with the extreme loads of modern F1 cars. Understanding the physical toll he endured explains the gap between Ferrari's massive expectations and his initial underwhelming results.

The details:

• Hamilton struck the wall hard during the 2025 pre-season shakedown in Barcelona, displacing a neck disc that pressed against a nerve.
• The aftermath required daily management: chiropractors, physiotherapists, painkillers, injections, and chronic sleep loss across a nine-week window.
• He alluded to the issue after finishing second at Monaco earlier this year, but waited until after winning at Barcelona — the crash site — to confirm the severity.
• That victory marked a turnaround from his difficult debut year, when lingering physical effects left him struggling to adapt to his new team.

What's next:

Hamilton currently sits second in the 2026 drivers' championship between Kimi Antonelli and George Russell. With three podiums and that emotional Barcelona win on the board, the 41-year-old looks capable of mounting a genuine title challenge. If his neck issues are truly behind him, Ferrari may finally have the lead driver it envisioned.