What makes Lewis Hamilton one of the most adventurous drivers in the paddock is not his only driving style on the grid, but also his actions off the grid. The Briton has tried multiple sports and surfing was one of them where he came together with 11-time champion Kelly Slater. Looking back on his life-threatening experience from surfing, the 38-year-old explained in an interview with robbreport.com how he ignored the American’s advice and almost paid the price for it.
Kelly Slater and Hamilton are good friends and the 7x F1 champion often goes to Slater’s ranch to surf. The last time the two surfed together was in November last year.
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After enjoying the activity, the Briton took to social media and uploaded some images. While Hamilton enjoys pushing himself and taking risks to perform to the best of his ability in such activities, he did admit that he was very close to the limit once, and only narrowly escaped.
Lewis Hamilton reveals going against Kelly Slater’s advice once cost him
In an interview with robbreport.com, Lewis Hamilton explained how he narrowly escaped a 25-foot wave. He said, “Kelly was like, ‘there’s no way you’re going out there’. And I was like, ‘Kelly, I’m going out’. This thing was massive, a huge tunnel, and I could see Kelly coming right down it in front of me“.
“And I just had to make sure I didn’t get sucked in. So I dived down and grabbed the reef and prayed. I could hear the thing land behind me, like a bomb going off. My board got ripped off and snapped in half. I was very close to the end,” the Mercedes driver added.
However, Hamilton believes that the same risk-taking activities excite him for some reason. He then went on to explain how his risk-taking has matured when he is racing on the track as compared to his earlier days when he was reckless.
Hamilton believes he has matured when he takes risks while racing
In the same interview, Lewis Hamilton explained how he took a lot more risks when he was younger. He believes he was very fortunate back then to not get injured.
However, with experience, Hamilton can now measure risk much smarter. He believes he is good at knowing what his limit is and is able to push as close to it as possible. Another thing that the Mercedes driver believes helps him is that his ability to take risks is greater than most people.
