Hamilton Swaps F1 Prancing Horse for Real One Mark Sutton – Formula 1 – Getty Images
Lewis Hamilton is well-known for maintaining a range of interests outside his day job, with music, fashion, dogs, and motorcycles among the passions that he pursues in his time off and help him to return to his Formula 1 duties refreshed. On Thursday in Austin, he revealed an unexpected new interest: horses. And not the Prancing kind that come out of Maranello.
Hamilton said that equines have had such an impact on him that he calls his interest in them “my next thing.” (It’s an intriguing parallel with Michael Schumacher, who had a liking for the cowboy lifestyle that he shared with his wife and daughter.) F1’s annual visit to Texas always throws up western-style crossover PR opportunities—drivers wearing Stetsons, Daniel Ricciardo riding a horse at the track, even a lifesize replica rodeo bull in the paddock this year. And it was during one such photoshoot on a ranch that Hamilton finally was able to follow up on a dream from his teens.
“Yesterday, I rode a horse for the first time, so it was an unbelievable experience,” he told the media at Circuit of the Americas.
“When I was younger, there used to be a horse in a field nearby,” Hamilton said. “It was always on its own every day, so I’d go and stop, and it would come over to me, and I’d spend time with it. But then I’d start walking home and notice my allergies start kicking off, and I’d struggle to breathe. I’d really struggle, and I didn’t know I had asthma. It wasn’t until I was around another horse another time and had an asthma attack—it was a really scary experience, because I didn’t have an inhaler or anything. So I stayed away from horses since that day, when I was probably 14.”
Hamilton’s fellow Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc climbs aboard the paddock bull. JIM WATSON – Getty Images
More recently, Hamilton went through a what he called a desensitization program to address those allergies, including hay fever. Earlier this year, he was asked to do a photo shoot with a horse for Time, and—helped by medication—to his relief, he had no issues. That led him to agree to a similar photo op in Austin for his merchandise collection, Plus 44.
“I was like, ‘Can I ride it?’” he said. Hamilton climbed aboard… but then the horse started to gallop. “I was like ‘God!’ I didn’t know what to do. So I panicked a little bit. But it was beautiful.”
The experience clearly resonated with Hamilton. “I’m really excited about this next kind of phase of my life, where I’m going to be around horses more and really get into riding,” he said. “That’s my next thing.”
Mark Sutton – Formula 1 – Getty Images
The equine moment also helped to ensure that he arrived at COTA—a track that he loves and where he’s had much success in the past—in an upbeat mood, despite recent frustrations on the track that have seen him fighting for minor placings. At the last race in Singapore, he had dire brake problems in the closing laps, and had to cut some of the tighter corners in order to avoid crashing. He crossed the line less than a second clear of Fernando Alonso; however, the FIA took a dim view of his take on track limits, and gave him a penalty that dropped him from P7 to P8.
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“Yeah, the last few laps were definitely nerve-wracking,” he said when Road & Track asked him how tricky it was just to bring the car home. “I’ve finished races before with three tires, and now I’ve finished one with three brakes. Not something I want to experience again.”
The brake issue was a one-off, a result of a cooling miscalculation by Ferrari on a track that is always tough on cars. Austin is a reset. Still, Hamilton is under no illusions about the potential of the SF-25 given the form of McLaren, Red Bull and even Mercedes, although he remains optimistic.
“I never have expectations, except that we give it our all and we continue to improve,” he said. “We spent time after the last race going through areas we can improve on, and I really think this weekend we can take a step forward in extracting more from the car that we have.”
Hamilton is still trying to see the glass as half-full as the team uses the remainder of this difficult year to build towards 2026, when the goal posts move with the new rules. He wants the team to be ready to make the most of a more competitive car, and says he sees the remaining races of 2025 as a chance to keep learning for next year.
“There’s been a couple of gems… that we didn’t capitalize on. So it’s about taking those good bits and continuing to take what works and change what doesn’t,” he said. “Everyone back at the factory really deserves a good result, and that’s the sole focus—to get good results, try to maximize, squeeze absolutely every point we can out of our performances on the weekends. And I really believe we can do that. So we just stay focused.”
RONALDO SCHEMIDT – Getty Images
That focus hasn’t been helped by rumors of Ferrari’s supposed interest in hiring Christian Horner to replace team boss Fred Vasseur, the man who persuaded Hamilton to join. It makes little sense, as Horner has made it clear that he wants equity in any team he does become part of—and that won’t happen at Maranello.
“I don’t know where the rumors have come from, so I can’t really shed much light on that,” said Hamilton. “It’s a little distracting for us as a team. The team have made it clear where they stand in terms of re-signing Fred.”
But just being in Austin has put a smile on his face. He might not have much chance of scoring a sixth win at this venue, but he’s happy to be here. “I think it’s been amazing to see the growth and the interest from people here in the States,” Hamilton said. “I love that we’ve been able to tap into the sporting community here. I know you have a big college football team here, and they’re massively passionate about sports. So it’s great that we were able to kind of tap into that, finally.”
“I think the first time we came here, it was all kind of like, ‘F1? What is F1?’ But the progress—the journey that we’ve been on—from Netflix being out, to then the biggest sports movie of all time, the F1 movie that we did this year, has been amazing. And not only that—bringing people from all ages to the race. There’s a huge turnout every time we come here.”
There’s also one other reason Hamilton loves coming to the Texas capital: the chow. “This is one of my favorite weekends of the year because you get to head into town, get some great food,” he said. “It’s just a really great atmosphere.”
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