Video Games

Lewis Hamilton got crushed by fan in Gran Turismo

“He had no idea he was racing me.”

Marco Wutz

Lewis Hamilton got crushed by fan in Gran Turismo
Lewis Hamilton got crushed by fan in Gran Turismo /

Playing video games anonymously as a celebrity must be pretty liberating, but can also lead to some very funny moments. Lewis Hamilton, seven-time Formula 1 World Champion and one of the greatest racing drivers of all time, stepped into the online-modes of Gran Turismo over the holidays for some relaxed competition, which seems to be a bit of a tradition for him.

When he went online, “there was someone with my initials, like LR or Lewis, Lewis GB or something like that, or something 44”, Hamilton explained at an event held by the Mercedes F1 Team, where he appeared on stage with his team mate, George Russell, who sometimes streams himself playing racing simulations or Call of Duty on Twitch.

Though Hamilton is a passionate gamer, even going so far as to gift his younger brother a portable gaming rig so they could play Call of Duty together when they are traveling, he could not hold his own against his admirer: “He kept taking me out. He had no idea he was racing me.”

A cheeky Russell then budged in, saying: “You’ve found me!” With how many F1 drivers do play games in their free time, it’s not impossible that Hamilton actually faced one of his colleagues online. In this case, though, Russell was probably just kidding – or already starting the psychological warfare against his team mate ahead of the 2023 season.

You can also catch the reigning F1 World Champion, Max Verstappen, compete in the virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans this weekend, if you need something to get you through the F1 off-season.

Published
Marco Wutz
MARCO WUTZ

Marco Wutz is a writer from Parkstetten, Germany. He has a degree in Ancient History and a particular love for real-time and turn-based strategy games like StarCraft, Age of Empires, Total War, Age of Wonders, Crusader Kings, and Civilization as well as a soft spot for Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. He began covering StarCraft 2 as a writer in 2011 for the largest German community around the game and hosted a live tournament on a stage at gamescom 2014 before he went on to work for Bonjwa, one of the country's biggest Twitch channels. He branched out to write in English in 2015 by joining tl.net, the global center of the StarCraft scene run by Team Liquid, which was nominated as the Best Coverage Website of the Year at the Esports Industry Awards in 2017. He worked as a translator on The Crusader Stands Watch, a biography in memory of Dennis "INTERNETHULK" Hawelka, and provided live coverage of many StarCraft 2 events on the social channels of tl.net as well as DreamHack, the world's largest gaming festival. From there, he transitioned into writing about the games industry in general after his graduation, joining GLHF, a content agency specializing in video games coverage for media partners across the globe, in 2021. He has also written for NGL.ONE, kicker, ComputerBild, USA Today's ForTheWin, The Sun, Men's Journal, and Parade. Email: marco.wutz@glhf.gg

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