Hamilton 'let the greatness flow' after shedding superstitions

From a pre-race ritual to a pair of magic underwear, Lewis Hamilton says he once relied on superstitions to boost his luck on race day before he later shed the beliefs and "let the greatness flow".

At the initiative of Mercedes sponsor IWC Watches, Hamilton recently sat down with TV presenter James Corden and American football star Tom Brady for a candid virtual talk about the two legendary sportsmen's careers and their outlook on life.

Asked whether they embraced any superstitions to try and gain an edge in their respective field of expertise, Brady denied he had any irrational beliefs, but Hamilton admitted to a time early on in his career when he carried a few lucky items with him while racing.

"When I was younger, I think I must have been 10 or 11, and my brother [Nicholas] gave me this conker, and it was my lucky conker!" he explained.

"So, I put it in my suit. I don't know what happened to the damn thing. Came out my leg, trouser leg or something, I lost this conker. And then, I had a lucky pair of underwear. My mom shrunk them!

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"It didn't get 'til I was 17 or 18, and I had a sequence of how to get dressed. Right sock first, left sock. These steps that I would take. And I remember I got in the car, I was in Germany, and I'm about to start the race, and my helmet wasn't done up.

"So, I've missed one of those elements of these steps that I had made crucial to getting the job done. And I remember I crashed several seconds later.

"And after that, I was like, "This is ridiculous." This is all in my head, and I basically got rid of that!"

"And now, like Tom, I don't have any of those things. I think we probably create those things in our minds.

"And you'll know from what Tom was saying, the psychological challenges that we face, you got to free your mind and let the greatness flow, I guess!"

Hamilton and Brady were later asked how they would fare if they swapped sports.

"I always thought I was a pretty good driver!", said the 43-year-old Tampa Bay quarterback to whom Hamilton donated one of his helmets, albeit one that was too small for Brady's head.

"How can I be the driver when the helmets don't fit me?!" he joked.

The ten-time Super Bowl winner promised to send Hamilton one of his own lids and incited the seven-time F1 world champion to join him on the pitch.

"I'm going to send him one of mine. I'm going to see how he likes it," he said. "But I think we could get Lewis in there for a few plays. I've seen his athletic ability.

"He's pretty talented in a lot of areas. I think he could do some things on the football field."

But the Mercedes driver doubted he would be up to the task of going should-to-shoulder on the field with football's best.

"I would run the opposite way!" said Hamilton. "Seeing those guys, the size that they are, no, I don't know if I could do it."

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