Why Hamilton managed to reverse out of the gravel

We don't see it often, but Lewis Hamilton used his reverse gear to get out of the gravel trap at the Grand Prix in Imola. Craig Scarborough explains how he managed this, and why we don't see it more often in F1.

The trick of Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton had everything under control prior to the race in Imola. He started from pole and it was raining. Conditions in which Lewis is often strong. In Imola, however, it turned out that also Hamilton can make mistakes in the rain. After losing his lead at the start to Max Verstappen, he had to take more risks.

When overtaking the stragglers it went wrong; Hamilton was just a bit too eager to overtake George Russell. He hit the wet part of the track and slid into the wall. Lewis got himself out of it though by driving backwards, something we don't often see in F1 and certainly not over such a long distance through the gravel. Scarborough explains why.