- Lewis Hamilton revealed he ran over a groundhog during the Canadian Grand Prix, expressing his devastation about the incident.
- The collision, which occurred around Lap 12, caused significant damage to the underside of Hamilton’s Ferrari, impacting his race performance.
- Despite the groundhog incident and additional brake issues, Hamilton managed to finish the race in sixth place.
Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has expressed his devastation after running over a groundhog during the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday. The incident, which occurred around Lap 12 of the race, resulted in significant damage to the underside of Hamilton’s Ferrari.
“I got a good start [to the race], held position, I was holding onto the group and managing tyres well, so I was feeling optimistic,” Hamilton told Sky Sports. “Then, and I didn’t see it happen, but I heard I hit a groundhog. That’s devastating, I love animals and that’s so, so sad. That’s never happened to me here before.”
The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, situated on Montreal’s Ile Notre-Dame, is home to a large population of groundhogs, and incidents involving these animals have occurred at previous Canadian Grand Prix. Hamilton, who started the race in fifth position, was unaware of the collision at the time but was later informed of the incident.
The impact caused substantial damage to Hamilton’s car, as he described: “But the floor, the right side, there’s a hole in it and all the vanes are all gone.” This damage significantly impacted his race performance, causing him to drop from fifth to seventh place. He eventually finished sixth after Lando Norris retired following a collision with his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.
In addition to the groundhog incident, Hamilton revealed that his Ferrari also experienced brake issues during the 70-lap race. “Given that and we had a brake issue halfway through as well, and we stayed out probably too long after the first stop and came out behind traffic and it just went from one thing to another,” he added. “So I’m happy I could just finish, especially with the brake issue I had.”
The British driver emphasized the need for improvements to his car, stating, “We’re really in need of an upgrade and there’s a lot of things that need to change before we can fight at the front.”
This is not the first time groundhogs have caused problems for Formula 1 drivers at the Canadian Grand Prix. In 2007, Super Aguri driver Anthony Davidson had to pit for a new front wing after running over a groundhog, while Romain Grosjean’s Haas suffered extensive damage in 2018 after a similar incident during a practice session.
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