Sao Paulo - Lewis Hamilton has blamed weeks of partying for crashing his Pagani Zonda supercar in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The triple world champion’s accident happened in Monaco just before he was due to fly to Sao Paulo for this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix.
Hamilton’s arrival here was delayed. He missed a sponsor event on Wednesday, blaming a fever before revealing on the social website Instagram that he had had an embarrassing road accident in his purple Zonda.
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The car has a top speed of 350km/h, a 567kW engine and does 0-100km/h in 2.6 seconds and it was commissioned exclusively for Hamilton by the Italian manufacturer, hence the model number 760LH.
Sportsmail has learned the accident happened at 3.30am on Tuesday (not, strictly, on Monday night, as he claimed on Instagram).
Police were called. Hamilton’s Zonda struck three stationary vehicles (rather than one, with ‘very light contact’ as he also claimed).
A spokesman for Monaco’s Palais de Justice said: “Mr Hamilton’s foot slipped on the brake and clutch pedals and his vehicle struck three parked cars. He was tested for alcohol but the result was negative.”
PARTY LIFESTYLE
On Thursday Hamilton opened up on his party lifestyle and how he feels it has taken a toll on his senses.
“It was a result of heavy partying and not much rest for a week and a half,” he said of the crash. “I am a bit run down. I have been non-stop and trying to fit training in and not getting a lot of sleep. The last two days I have slept pretty much all day.”
Hamilton, who used to be virtually teetotal, says he now parties hard, both in Monaco where he lives and with friends in Los Angeles and Miami. He promised to drink lustily for weeks after winning the title in Austin last month, with his mother Carmen’s party in London last weekend a highlight.
“I am generally a really energetic person but with that week after Mexico (the last race) and my mum’s party, where we drank a lot, I was really feeling it. Then I had a photo shoot at Madame Tussauds the next day and I wondered why I had booked it for the next day because I had to do pictures looking fresh.”
Hamilton was then asked if it was wise to be driving around Monaco at 3.30am on the day he was meant to travel to Brazil on an 11-hour flight.
He did not answer that question, but said: “I never considered not coming. I have never, ever not considered coming to a race throughout my whole life.
“In 22 years, I have never not been at a race.”
Daily Mail