Lewis Hamilton passes marmot in Formula 1 in Montreal

Formula 1 record world champion Lewis Hamilton initially ran over a marmot at the Canada Grand Prix. The resulting damage on the underbody of his Ferrari apparently cost the 40 -year -old British on Sunday in Montreal a better result.

“I love animals and I am so sad about it, that’s terrible. Something like that has never happened to me here,” said Hamilton, who after the incident was sixth: “When I was told that it was a marmot, that knocked me away.”

The scene from the initial phase of the Grand Price can be seen on video recordings. Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur said that Hamilton destroyed the entire front part of the underbody due to the unwanted collision. This led to a loss of performance that Hamilton in the car could not explain itself at all. He hadn’t noticed that he had run over the animal.

“The underbody on the right side had a hole,” said the seven -time world champion afterwards. He also had a brake problem later. “So I am grateful that I just finished the brake problem and got the points,” added the old master.

Incidents with marmots occur in Montreal from time to time. The animals live on the island in the Sankt-Lorenz stream, on which Formula 1 runs. In 2018, the Frenchman Romain Grosjean also had an accident in training. The car was also damaged in this. World champion Max Verstappen had reported last year that a marmot suddenly sat on the slopes in front of him. In contrast to Hamilton, the Dutchman was still able to avoid.