Lewis Hamilton Admits ‘pulling Sickie’ To Skip Mercedes Duties And Raises Russell Question

Lewis Hamilton has conceded that he once faked sickness to avoid gruelling pre-season testing with Mercedes.

Lewis Hamilton has admitted pulling a ‘sickie’ to avoid pre-season testing with Mercedes (Image: Getty)

Lewis Hamilton has admitted that he has previously pulled a ‘sickie’ to get out of pre-season testing with Mercedes. The seven-time world champion joked that he was ‘wondering’ whether team-mate George Russell was using the underhand tactic to get out of a Mercedes event at the team’s Brackley headquarters.

Hamilton joined team principal Toto Wolff and reserve driver Mick Schumacher for a Q&A session. Russell was missing and it was reported that he was ill.

Wolff insists that Russell “is really ill” and promised that the 25-year-old was not pulling a “sickie” to get out of attending the event. Hamilton joked that he had been suspicious of Russell’s absence and conceded that he previously faked illness to avoid testing.

“I was wondering!” Hamilton quipped after Wolff said Russell was not pretending to be ill. “In the past I have done that to miss the test days, because I just generally don’t like test days.

“So yesterday when I heard that he was sick, I was like, ‘Ah, he’s one-upped me, he’s gone to another level’.”

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Lewis Hamilton was suspicious that George Russell had been faking illness (Image: Getty)

Hamilton did not reveal when he pulled the ‘sickie’, prompting some fans to speculate when it might have happened. Many noted that in 2015, Mercedes ruled out Hamilton with illness during a day of running at the Circuit de Catalunya.

The 38-year-old missed the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix due to testing positive COVID-19. At the time, the sport’s rules meant that he had to isolate while testing positive for the virus.

Hamilton and Russell will be hoping for a vastly improved 2024 after Mercedes once again fell way behind Red Bull and Max Verstappen this year. The Silver Arrows struggled for consistency in 2023, with neither Hamilton nor Russell properly challenging Verstappen.

Russell has set himself the goal of outperforming Hamilton next season. The former Williams star wants to be ahead of his team-mate after a disappointing second season with Mercedes.