Lewis Hamilton takes flight in a fighter jet
After Charles Leclerc, it's Lewis Hamilton who was able to get into a fighter jet as part of a promotional video for IWC, a watchmaking house traditionally linked to aviation and space. The story is funny when you know that the two men will be teammates next year at Ferrari and that few have flown in a fighter jet.
Lewis Hamilton is sponsored by IWC, just like his team, Mercedes. If the driver does well, he will go to Ferrari next year. It turns out that he has also taken a seat in a fighter jet for an advertising campaign for IWC, a famous watchmaker linked to aviation since always.
This “gift” from IWC is to thank 11 years of collaboration between the seven-time F1 world champion and the watchmaker.
Since Lewis Hamilton became a brand ambassador for IWC in 2013, we have created many unforgettable moments and memories together. His era of records with the Mercedes team is now coming to an end, so we are delighted to offer him the opportunity to undergo astronaut training to familiarize himself with space exploration,” explained Chris Grainger-Herr, CEO of IWC Schaffhausen.
In this nearly 5-minute video, Lewis Hamilton aims to train in an aerial combat, like some astronauts do to prepare for their stay and takeoff into space.
It is the instructor driver of the Polaris program, John Baum, also known as “Slick,” who trained the future Ferrari driver during this training. We subjected Lewis Hamilton to the same training as the crews of Inspiration 4 and Polaris Dawn to prepare for their mission. He demonstrated truly impressive skills at the controls of the jet aircraft and proved that he was capable of piloting any machine, whether it be a powerful single-seater or a jet aircraft. By offering Lewis Hamilton this spaceflight training, we emphasize the commitment of the Polaris program to make space exploration accessible to a larger audience,” he commented.
The video posted by Charles Leclerc about his flight in a Rafale:
