I was in a helicopter with Lewis Hamilton as it was forced to make an emergency landing – but he didn’t even notice
SIR LEWIS HAMILTON once slept through a helicopter making an emergency landing, an F1 legend has revealed.
The incident took place 12 years ago when the Ferrari driver was doing a feature with the BBC and the Red Arrows at RAF Scampton.
Shortly after being picked up at Battersea, Hamilton decided to get 40 winks in the back of the chopper.
Bad weather conditions forced the aircraft to perform an emergency landing in a field, where it sat for 45 minutes.
Hamilton, however, was completely oblivious to the stop or the fact that the chopper had been grounded for the best part of an hour as he was flat out.
Former McLaren star David Coulthard was on board the flight and recalled the incident by saying: “Well, this was a feature we did for BBC, when I was working for them.
“Red Arrows, which is our display team for the Royal Air Force, we went over to, I think it’s RAF Scampton, and I remember I picked up Lewis in a helicopter in Battersea, which is the only place you can land a helicopter in London.
“If you follow Tom Cruise, you’ll see him very often in London getting out of his helicopter, he is usually at Battersea.
“And anyway, we took off from Battersea, I sat in the front with the pilot, Lewis was in the back, and he fell asleep.
“He must have been either out partying or whatever the night before.
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“And we hit fog on the way to the airfield, and we basically had to put down in a field, in a cornfield, because they knew there was big wind generators between Battersea and getting to the airfield.
“And we sat there probably for a good 45 minutes. The whole time Lewis is asleep!
“We eventually take off. We eventually turn up at the airfield, late.
“There wasn’t any fog. And then we got to go up with the RAF together.
“And then he drove his Formula 1 car in a sort of shootout along the runway.
“And I have a picture in my office wall here, actually, where I’m in the jet fighter, and he is in the Formula 1 car.
“And, yeah, it was just a fun experience. It was a great feature.”
Hamilton, 40, is now plying his trade with Ferrari after leaving Mercedes last December following 12 years with the team.
He currently sits ninth in the Drivers Championship with nine points to his name after the Australian and Chinese Grand Prixs.