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Lewis Hamilton has revealed that a neck injury sustained in a pre-season testing crash compromised the start of his first Formula 1 campaign with Ferrari, adding fresh context to what became the most difficult season of his career.
Hamilton joined Ferrari for the 2025 season and undertook a private three-day Testing of Previous Cars programme at Barcelona in January as part of his preparation. But on the second day, he crashed the SF-23, creating an immediate setback in his adaptation to life at Maranello.
The seven-time world champion has now explained that the impact was more than a routine testing incident. “I hit the wall very hard last year in testing,” Hamilton said. “Knocked out one of the discs in my neck, which was into the nerve.”
The injury, he said, severely restricted his physical preparation for weeks. “So, I couldn't do a lot for like nine weeks. I was having chiropractors every day, physically every day I couldn't sleep. I had painkillers, I had to get an injection, I did everything I could to try to fix it. So that's what I was basically trying to live with. It's not easy in the position that you're sitting in.”
That revelation reframes a campaign in which Hamilton finished sixth in the standings, 86 points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc, and endured the first podium-less season of his 19-year Formula 1 career.
Hamilton made the comments after finally securing his first victory for Ferrari, achieved at the 31st attempt last time out in Barcelona. The result arrived during a renewed phase in his Ferrari spell, with Hamilton now benefiting from a car shaped by his own development input and from changes to the personnel around him.
His resurgence has also sharpened the competitive picture heading into Austria. For more on the wider weekend context, read our Austrian GP talking points as Hamilton’s Ferrari charge puts Mercedes under pressure.
Hamilton is now 41 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli and nine ahead of George Russell, who has described him as a “big threat” in the title fight.
Despite that momentum, Hamilton insisted ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix that he is not framing his season around the championship.
“I'm just really not thinking that I'm competing for a championship,” he said. “I'm thinking about arriving and I want to win this weekend - that's my goal.”
Hamilton added that his preparation has been deliberately stripped back. “That's what I've been working for all week, last week and this week. I've not been having dinners. It's head back down with the sacrifices you need to make to make sure that you arrive 100% so you can deliver for these people.”
For Hamilton, the message is clear: the title may be in reach, but the immediate priority is execution.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.
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