How the Halo saved Lewis Hamilton from scary US GP collision

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.

Onboard footage from the Briton’s Ferrari shows it hitting his SF-25’s Halo, which deflected it over the driver’s head.

A chunk of debris flew towards Lewis Hamilton’s head in the Austin Sprint

Hamilton lined up eighth on the grid at the Circuit of the Americas for Saturday’s Sprint, with Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Nico Hulkenberg all ahead of him as too was Fernando Alonso.

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.

Both McLarens retired, as did Alonso, while Hulkenberg dropped down the order.

That elevated the drivers who lined up behind Alonso with Carlos Sainz up to third and Hamilton running P4.

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.

The Briton’s Halo deflected the chunk of carbon fibre.

Halo saving Lewis Hamilton from being struck by a piece of carbon fibre in Austin 🙏 pic.twitter.com/K6MZCd903j

— Autosport (@autosport) October 18, 2025

Hamilton, although not specifically referring to that moment, admitted he was lucky to escape the carnage that unfolded ahead of him.

“I managed to avoid the drama at Turn 1, just,” he told Sky F1.

“I didn’t 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.

“Lots of improvement is still to be made. Otherwise the start was good.”

The 40-year-old will line up fifth on the grid for Sunday’s 56-lap United States Grand Prix dreaming of the win, with his teammate Charles Leclerc two places ahead in third.

“For us to be third and fifth I think it’s a real step forward,” he said.

“This is the closest I’ve been [to a podium] in God knows how long. It’s taken me forever, it’s not from lack of trying. I’m going to give it absolutely everything to try and get there tomorrow.”

He added: “My goal is to win tomorrow.”

More on F1’s Halo from PlanetF1.com

👉 Eight times the Halo became a saviour: Grosjean, Leclerc and more scary incidents remembered

👉 FIA deserve all the praise as Halo saves more drivers

Lewis Hamilton’s second ‘very fortunate’ escape thanks to Halo

It’s not the first time in his Formula 1 career that Halo has saved Hamilton from a potentially serious injury.

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’s Mercedes as the protagonists clashed at the Italian Grand Prix.

Fighting for position, Verstappen tried to muscle his way up the inside into Turn 2, leading to the pair making contact.

Verstappen’s Red Bull was lifted into the air where it traveled over the Mercedes, coming to a rest on top of the W12 where Verstappen’s right-rear wheel hit Hamilton’s helmet.

“Honestly, I feel very fortunate today,” Hamilton said on the day. “Thank God for the Halo, that ultimately, I think, saved me, and saved my neck…

“I don’t think I’ve ever been hit on the head by a car before and it’s quite a shock for me, because I don’t know if you’ve seen the image but my head really is quite far forward. And I’ve been racing a long, long time, so I’m so, so grateful that I’m still here.”

Formula 1 introduced Halo, a protective cockpit device designed to improve driver safety, in 2018.

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’s passing months after his 2014 Suzuka crash, the FIA investigated various options for both Formula 1 and IndyCar.

Formula 1 went with the Halo, a titanium bar around the driver’s head to deflect objects, as it did on Saturday in Austin.

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