Could A Pre-Season Crash Be A Sign That Lewis Hamilton Will Win The 2026 Formula 1 Championship?

Typically, a crash in pre-season testing isn't a good thing, but some think that a wreck Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton (that's going to feel weird to say for a couple of months) had this week could be a sign that he's headed for his F1 record 8th World Championship… just not this season.

Ferrari was doing some pre-season testing in Barcelona, with both Hamilton and his teammate Charles Leclerc getting some run. 

Testing like this is heavily regulated with limits on the mileage drivers can put in as well as what kind of equipment they can use. That's why Ferrari has been running a 2023 spec car.

Unfortunately, during one of these testing sessions, Hamilton is reported to have had an off.

Fortunately, Hamilton was reported to be okay, and the team didn't even seem too broken up about the incident, with Formula1.com's Lawrence Barretto reporting that the team saw it as part of the process of a driver joining a new team and trying to find the limit.

The only real issue was that the incident delayed some of Leclerc's track time, but there's a strange stat that some think is foreshadowing a Lewis Hamilton championship in 2026.

As it turns out, there's a strange pattern with Hamilton crashing in Spain in his first year with a team, and then winning the championship in his second season. 

According to Daily Mail, Hamilton had a preseason crash at Valencia in 2007 with McLaren, his first season in Formula 1.

Then in 2013, his first season with Mercedes, Hamilton wrecked at Jerez and then went on to win the championship in 2014.

Now, he's had another crash in Spain in his first season with a new team.

It's weird for sure, but does it mean that a record-breaking title is imminent? I'm not so sure.

However, I do think that Ferrari will have a good enough car with a strong enough driver lineup to be competing for wins in most races this season, so I wouldn't be shocked to see them towards the top of the standings.

Written by
Matt is a University of Central Florida graduate and a long-suffering Philadelphia Flyers fan living in Orlando, Florida. He can usually be heard playing guitar, shoe-horning obscure quotes from The Simpsons into conversations, or giving dissertations to captive audiences on why Iron Maiden is the greatest band of all time.