Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton has recalled how he nearly drowned after being involved in a serious surfing incident.

Hamilton, 39, shared how he was out surfing with American pro surfer Kelly Slater along the Banzai Pipeline in Hawaii, which is known for being notoriously deadly.

The pair were surfing in peace when suddenly a 20-foot-high wave appeared and turned what was calm surf into a horror.

The F1 driver saw the unmanageable wave and attempted to paddle back towards the shore, however, Hamilton shared that before he was able to, he “got sucked into the kill zone.”

Lewis Hamilton recalls how he nearly drowned in a surfing incident

Discussing the incident on the Hot One's Youtube talk show, Hamilton shared how he jumped from the surfboard and went underwater to avoid the four following giant waves heading his way.

The athlete was left struggling beneath the water as he watched his surfboard snap in half from the massive waves.

Speaking on the podcast, the F1 driver said: “I could hear this wave crash above me,” he said. “I came back up gasping for air but the next [wave] was coming so I went back down. I nearly ran out of air. I nearly drowned.”

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Hamilton added: “After that, I was like, ‘ok, massive props to these surfers.’”

While the incident was scary for the driver, he’s not a newbie when it comes to surfing, as Hamilton shared that he first started to surf back in 2019.

Hamilton learnt to surf at pro Slater’s Surf Ranch in San Joaquin, California back in 2019.