F1 superstar Lewis Hamilton admits he almost drowned in an accident

Lewis Hamilton admitted he almost died in a surfing accident with a good friend.

The seven-time F1 world champion, who is currently eighth in the drivers’ standings and has scored 42 points so far in 2024, made the admission during an appearance on a popular online show.

READ MORE: Where do Hamilton and Verstappen rank on the Forbes list of highest-paid athletes in 2024?

The 39-year-old is not only statistically the best F1 driver of all time, but is also known for his fashion sense and has other interests outside of sport.

One of them is surfing; I was trained by eleven-time surfing world champion Kelly Slater.

READ MORE: Haas racing team on the verge of collapse after eight-figure losses

Hamilton announces near-death experience

In the popular YouTube series “Hot Ones,” in which celebrities answer questions while eating increasingly hot chicken wings, Hamilton recounted a near-death experience he had at the Banzai Pipeline in Hawaii.

“The worst crash I had was with Kelly Slater on the Pipeline,” he said. “There were 20-foot waves and Kelly just said, ‘There’s no way you’re getting out of there. You’re crazy.'”

“When I tried to paddle in, I was basically sucked into the death zone.

“I turn around and see these four waves coming at me. For me it was like, ‘It’s over, it’s all over.’ I threw my board, dove down and grabbed the reef. I could hear the wave breaking behind me. My board was ripped and broken in half.

“I came back up, obviously gasping for air, and the next wave came, so I went back down and gasped for the reef again when another wave came. So I did that three times. I came up, I almost ran out of air. I almost drowned, but managed to swim back from there.”

READ MORE: Legendary engineer signs stunning contract for Andretti F1

Related