Lewis Hamilton reveals ‘terrifying’ encounter with SHARK in F1 star’s new ‘favourite place’ ahead of Australian GP

LEWIS HAMILTON has revealed he had a “terrifying” encounter with a SHARK ahead of the Australian Grand Prix.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton is Down Under preparing to take on the third race of the season at Australia‘s Albert Park in Melbourne this weekend.

And before the high-pressure weekend began, Hamilton – who was seen jogging on the beach alongside Fencer Miles Chamley-Watson – opted to relax by catching some waves on a surfboard.

However, he did not bargain on being joined by a shark while surfing in his “new favourite place”.

Hamilton told reporters: “I was down in Byron Bay which was stunning, like my new favourite place to go.

“And I can’t wait to go again because I love surfing so I went out surfing.

“Although there was a shark, so (laughing) I was terrified the whole time.”

It is not the first time Hamilton has spoken about sharks, previously admitting his fear of them.

Speaking in 2019, Hamilton revealed he was too scared to go into the water at Port Phillip Bay alongside 11-time surfing champ Kelly Slater due to not feeling safe.

He said: “It feels like a long, long time ago but there was skydiving [and] I also did some surfing.

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“I wanted to do it here but I couldn’t find a netted area to go to. I just can’t go where there are sharks, man!

“Every Australian I meet they’re like ‘nah, nah, you’ll be alright. If a shark comes up to you, punch it in the face.’

“Australians are really kind of crazy, huh?”

Some may say F1 drivers are in their own bracket of crazy, but Hamilton will be hoping for a crazy pace improvement from his Mercedes this weekend after back-to-back P5 finishes.

Hamilton has not won in Australia since 2015, with him labouring to P4 after the retirement of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz in last year’s race.

A possible boost to the rest of the grid could be that Verstappen has never won a Grand Prix in Australia.

Although this may only serve to make the Dutchman hungrier than ever to claim victory as he seeks a third world title.