Hamilton saved from potentially tragic accident at U.S GP Sprint

At Turn 1 after the start of the race, Oscar Piastri got off the line well. But with Max Verstappen in the clear ahead and Lando Norris up the inside, the Aussie driver went deep at the first corner, though not as deep as his teammate.

This prompted Piastri to try an over and under manoeuvre. But as he attempted the cut back, Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg were battling for potentially P2 behind Verstappen.

Piastri and Hulkenberg made contact, with the Aussie ricotcheing off into his teammate Norris in a race ending collision for both papaya drivers.

Hamilton who started the race in P8 was one of the drivers who stood to gain the most following the crash, leaping up to P4 behind Carlos Sainz in P3.

However, footage has risen from Hamilton's onboard which sees a huge piece of bodywork flying directly at Hamilton's head at full speed, before smashing into the Halo, with its trajectory being deflected by the impact.

Former Ferrari driver Felipe Massa experienced a similar incident. In 2009 during the Hungarian Grand Prix the Brazilian driver was climbing his way up the hill following Turns 2 and 3 when a piece of carbon fiber hit his helmet and knocked him unconscious, with his Ferrari finding the tyre barrier shortly afterwards.

The seven-time world champion has admitted to being pleasently surprised with his SF-25's surprising performance upturn in Q3 after dissapointing outings in Q1 and Q2, which he believes, present him with solid options to grab his first podium in red.

Want to stay up-to-date with what happens in the F1 paddock? Then GPblog's F1 Paddock Update video is the perfect way to do it. Subscribe to GPblog's YouTube channel and turn on notifications to never miss the latest episodes.