Lewis Hamilton misses Formula One tyres test to be at hospital bedside with famous dog Roscoe

Lewis Hamilton has missed a chance to test Formula One’s 2026 tyres for Ferrari, deciding instead to stay with his bulldog Roscoe who was in a coma following a pneumonia infection.

The seven-time world champion said Roscoe was resuscitated after his heart stopped while under sedation for pneumonia treatment.

“Please keep Roscoe in your thoughts,” Hamilton wrote on Instagram on Friday.

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“I want to keep you all updated. Roscoe caught pneumonia again and was struggling to breathe.

“He was admitted into hospital and sedated to calm him while they did checks on him and during the process his heart stopped.

“They managed to get a heartbeat back and now he’s in a coma.

“We don’t know whether he will wake from this. Tomorrow we’ll try to wake him up.

“I’m by his side and want to thank you all for your prayers and support.”

Hamilton’s former Mercedes teammate George Russell offered support, commenting: “Thinking of you mate.”

Lewis Hamilton in hospital with his dog, Roscoe. Credit: Instagram

The 12-year-old dog has been a regular sight in the F1 paddock for much of Hamilton’s career and has 1.3 million followers on Instagram, having also been a star of the popular Netflix show, Drive to Survive.

Ferrari reserve driver Zhou Guanyu took part in Friday’s test instead with tyre supplier Pirelli at the Mugello circuit in Italy alongside Hamilton’s regular teammate Charles Leclerc.

The test runs were disrupted by rain which meant Leclerc and Zhou spent most of the day on intermediate and full wet tyres, rather than the hard-compound slicks they were meant to be testing.

It was a chance to gather data ahead of wide-ranging changes to F1 regulations in 2026.

Also Friday, Romain Grosjean got back behind the wheel with the Haas team in a 2023-specification car at Mugello. It was a symbolic and emotional return to F1 five years after a fiery crash in his last race of 2020.

“Fantastic, just felt a bit rusty at first and then everything came back,” Grosjean said, adding he was in tears under his helmet visor at the sight of staff from Haas, Ferrari, Red Bull and Pirelli applauding on his final lap.

“I’m very, very grateful. There are just no other words,” he said.

Grosjean wore a helmet with designs drawn by his children. He planned to wear it for what would have been his final race in 2020 in Abu Dhabi, but had to miss it because of burns sustained in the crash a month earlier in Bahrain.