Superstitions, at times, have held the best of people back. Lewis Hamilton too experienced the same during his younger days but managed to overcome it after one particular accident.
“I was superstitious till I was about 18,” replied Hamilton when asked if he had any race-day superstitions. Realizing that those were just thoughts in his head that he was “making up,” one day he “threw it out the window” and things went better for him thereafter.
Explaining the incident, Hamilton said, “I put my left sock on first and my right sock on and did this sequence of things, then good things would come. I would drive well. And there was one weekend I forgot one of the sequences, and I genuinely did crash afterward. And I was like ‘It’s just stupid.’ It’s just me blocking myself. So I was like, no more“.
Do you have any good luck charms or race day superstitions?
Lewis: “I was superstitious till I was about 18. And then I just realised it’s just a thing in my head that I’m making up. But I was like ‘okay, if I put my left sock on first and my right sock on and did this… pic.twitter.com/IJ1g6Nqwgp
— sin ⁴⁴ (@44britcedes) December 25, 2024
While superstitions may not pose any real danger for most people—allowing them to continue following them despite knowing they offer no tangible benefits—the same cannot be said for drivers. Depending on the superstitions they adhere to, they could face significant risks, including severe crashes on the racetrack.
For Hamilton, it was crucial to move past his superstitions. Success soon followed; by the age of 20, he had already become the Formula 3 Euro Series champion. Just a year later, he secured victory in the GP2 series, setting the stage for an extraordinary career, which made him the most successful driver in the sport’s history.
Hamilton also had other superstitions
Famous F1 presenter Steve Jones appeared on the Fast and the Curious podcast earlier this year and shared some other interesting superstitions that Hamilton revealed to him in their interactions together. From having a “lucky conker” to “a lucky pair of underwear,” Hamilton has had his fair share of unnatural beliefs.
To add to that, Hamilton, per Jones, also believes in other “weird things” such as UFOs. “[I was] asking Lewis Hamilton, do you think dogs can sense evil? He said, yes, they absolutely can. He’s a bit of a hippie when it comes to that stuff, you know, he believes in UFOs… all these weird things, Jones revealed on the podcast.
Hamilton was not the only F1 driver with superstitions; legends like Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel also had their fair share.
For instance, Schumacher had a preference for odd numbers, having won all his titles in cars with odd numbers—five with the number one and one each with numbers three and five. Vettel, on the other hand, considered a pair of silver trinkets gifted by his grandmother his lucky charm, tucking them into his racing boots every time he suited up.
