Lewis Hamilton had a scary moment at Turn 1 of the United States Grand Prix Sprint as a chunk of carbon fibre debris from the crash ahead came hurtling towards his head.<\/p>\n
Onboard footage from the Briton\u2019s Ferrari shows it hitting his SF-25\u2019s Halo, which deflected it over the driver\u2019s head.<\/p>\n
A chunk of debris flew towards Lewis Hamilton\u2019s head in the Austin Sprint<\/p>\n
Hamilton<\/a> lined up eighth on the grid at the Circuit of the Americas for Saturday\u2019s Sprint, with Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Nico Hulkenberg all ahead of him as too was Fernando Alonso.<\/p>\n Taking different lines into the wide Turn 1, Piastri and Hulkenberg made contact as the championship leader tried to cut back on Norris to take second place off his teammate. The Australian and Hulkenberg made contact with Alonso also receiving a hefty whack, while Piastri was pushed into Norris.<\/p>\n Both McLarens retired, as did Alonso, while Hulkenberg dropped down the order. <\/p>\n That elevated the drivers who lined up behind Alonso with Carlos Sainz up to third and Hamilton running P4.<\/p>\n It could, however, have been a very different story for the seven-time World Champion, who escaped a scary moment when a piece of debris from one of the crashed cars came flying towards his head.<\/p>\n The Briton\u2019s Halo deflected the chunk of carbon fibre.<\/p>\n Halo saving Lewis Hamilton from being struck by a piece of carbon fibre in Austin \ud83d\ude4f pic.twitter.com\/K6MZCd903j<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Autosport (@autosport) October 18, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Hamilton, although not specifically referring to that moment, admitted he was lucky to escape the carnage that unfolded ahead of him.<\/p>\n \u201cI managed to avoid the drama at Turn 1, just,\u201d he told Sky F1.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t position my car particularly well. I saw Alonso on the inside so I went a bit to the right and left the door open to Charles. <\/p>\n \u201cLots of improvement is still to be made. Otherwise the start was good.\u201d<\/p>\n The 40-year-old will line up fifth on the grid for Sunday\u2019s 56-lap United States Grand Prix dreaming of the win, with his teammate Charles Leclerc two places ahead in third.<\/p>\n \u201cFor us to be third and fifth I think it\u2019s a real step forward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the closest I\u2019ve been [to a podium] in God knows how long. It\u2019s taken me forever, it\u2019s not from lack of trying. I\u2019m going to give it absolutely everything to try and get there tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cMy goal is to win tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n More on F1\u2019s Halo from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49 Eight times the Halo became a saviour: Grosjean, Leclerc and more scary incidents remembered <\/a><\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49 FIA deserve all the praise as Halo saves more drivers <\/a><\/p>\n Lewis Hamilton\u2019s second \u2018very fortunate\u2019 escape thanks to Halo<\/p>\n It\u2019s not the first time in his Formula 1 career that Halo has saved Hamilton from a potentially serious injury. <\/p>\n Back in 2021, as he went wheel-to-wheel with Max Verstappen for the World title, the Red Bull landed up parked on the top of Hamilton\u2019s Mercedes as the protagonists clashed at the Italian Grand Prix. <\/p>\n Fighting for position, Verstappen tried to muscle his way up the inside into Turn 2, leading to the pair making contact.<\/p>\n Verstappen\u2019s Red Bull was lifted into the air where it traveled over the Mercedes, coming to a rest on top of the W12 where Verstappen\u2019s right-rear wheel hit Hamilton\u2019s helmet.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, I feel very fortunate today,\u201d Hamilton said on the day. \u201cThank God for the Halo, that ultimately, I think, saved me, and saved my neck\u2026 <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever been hit on the head by a car before and it\u2019s quite a shock for me, because I don\u2019t know if you\u2019ve seen the image but my head really is quite far forward. And I\u2019ve been racing a long, long time, so I\u2019m so, so grateful that I\u2019m still here.\u201d<\/p>\n Formula 1 introduced Halo, a protective cockpit device designed to improve driver safety, in 2018.<\/p>\n Following the tragic deaths of Henry Surtees at Brands Hatch in Formula 2 in 2009, Justin Wilson at Pocono in IndyCar in 2015 and Jules Bianchi\u2019s passing months after his 2014 Suzuka crash, the FIA investigated various options for both Formula 1 and IndyCar. <\/p>\n Formula 1 went with the Halo, a titanium bar around the driver\u2019s head to deflect objects, as it did on Saturday in Austin.<\/p>\n Read next: Ferrari issue telling Fred Vasseur statement as Christian Horner rumours swirl<\/a><\/p>\n