Is Lewis Hamilton unsettled after his crash at Spa? Here’s what Juan Pablo Montoya has to say

It happened in the final minutes of the last free practice session at the challenging Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps: Lewis Hamilton was just about to complete his final fast lap ahead of qualifying when, at Turn 13, he careered over the kerbs into the gravel trap and grazed the tyre barriers with the right-hand side of his rear end.

The seven-time world champion’s car was damaged, with both the right-hand rear suspension and the rear wing affected. The angle of impact suggests that the gearbox may also have sustained some damage. Hamilton attempted to drive the damaged GP car back to the pits, but his team instructed him to park the car to protect it from further damage.

Ferrari star Lewis Hamilton: Nothing left to save?

The record-holding Grand Prix winner replied to the team’s request: “There’s nothing left to protect.” And after getting out, he looked at the stranded car from the sidelines. This raised the question of how much such a crash ahead of qualifying would affect the exceptional driver’s confidence. Juan Pablo Montoya provides a clear answer to this in his analysis for ‘F1 TV’.

The former Formula 1 driver and seven-time Grand Prix winner is certain: “For him, a crash like that is no big deal; as a driver, you just get back in the car and carry on.” And the 50-year-old Colombian is also certain that the repairs won’t be a major issue: “You can replace the entire rear end, and I’m pretty sure they have a spare that’s already assembled. Because all the teams have that. So you just have to loosen four to six bolts, and the whole rear end comes right off.”

Montoya also admitted, however: “He was really unlucky there, because he only grazed the tyre barriers briefly, but that probably also broke the gearbox, as he hit the track barrier at a silly angle. And he was on the verge of losing control of the car. But that’s the beauty of Spa and these cars. They have to be driven to the limit. Last year, the cars were so reliable that nobody made a mistake. Now you can see that everyone is driving at the limit.”

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19.07.2026 - 13:15