Lewis Hamilton, the admission: “I pretended to be sick to skip the tests.”

Even a great champion can indulge in some little mischief.

Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have written chapters of history that have revolutionized Formula 1, as evidenced by the six world championships the British driver has strung between 2014 and 2020 (with only Nico Rosberg’s interlude in 2016). Yet he too has in the past è been the protagonist of not entirely professional actions. And even the team principal of his many successes, Toto Wolff, is è aware of this.

This is evidenced by an exchange of jokes that took place during the party that Mercedes organized at the turn of the year between the old and the new year. Here, as reported 'RaceFans' George Russell was missing, and the reason was the flu that had forced him to bed. "He è sick, but he è for real" had been Toto Wolff’s line. The reference, far from veiled, was precisely to Hamilton who made it clear that his boss’s suspicions were well-founded.

"I was wondering just that. Because I è happened to say the same thing when I wanted to skip tests. In general, I don’t like to test the car on the track, so when I heard that Russell was sick I thought he had passed me by going to an even higher level", admitted Hamilton candidly. But at home in Mercedes, after the seven-time world champion’s long trail of victories, no one wanted to blink.