If a loose conker is found in an old Mercedes car or at a Formula 1 track, Lewis Hamilton would like it back.
Hamilton was in Milan alongside new Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc for the team’s Drivers’ Presentation, as hundreds of Scuderia fans turned out to support.
As part of the event, several supporters in attendance were allowed to ask the two drivers a question.
One fan asked Hamilton if he had any pre-race rituals he was able to share with the crowd.
Although Hamilton conceded he did not have any, he revealed he once had a lucky charm in the form of a conker.
But, rather bizarrely, he lost it during a race despite always placing it in his race suit.
“I don’t have any pre-race rituals,” Hamilton said.
“When I was younger, I did. I had lucky boxer shorts. And my mum, she shrunk them.
“I had a lucky conker and I put it in my suit. Somehow, it disappeared in the race. I don’t know how it got out.
“There was a time where I had a sequence, a ritual, and I got it wrong and I crashed. After that, I decided, ‘No ritual.’”
However, Hamilton pointed out he has certain habits that make him comfortable before a race, akin to a tennis player bouncing the ball a certain number of times before serving.
“I get in (the car) from the left always, it’s just comfortable,” Hamilton said.
Sky SportsHamilton somehow lost his conker mid-race, never to be found again[/caption]
“I do my left strap first. I just notice I do it, it’s not a ritual. I’ve done it for ages.
“Then listening to music, relaxing.”
Hamilton added he and Leclerc might play some football before races.
Another element of the festivities involved Hamilton and Leclerc driving through the streets of Milan in Ferrari cars.
The pair certainly put on a show for the fans as they did donuts as part of the demo event.
Hamilton will hope to enjoy some more donuts under more triumphant circumstances when the 2025 F1 season kicks off in Melbourne on March 16.
Sky SportsThe Brit will hope there’s plenty more donuts to come throughout the 2025 season[/caption]
The Australian Grand Prix marks Hamilton’s first race as a Ferrari driver, having spent the last 12 years with Mercedes.
During that spell, Hamilton was world champion a whopping six times having won his maiden world title in 2008 with McLaren.
An eighth would take him one clear of motorsport legend Michael Schumacher, as he and Hamilton boast seven world titles each.
A world title for Hamilton would also make him the first Ferrari driver to do so since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007.
And he’d do it all without needing his lucky conker.
