Nicolas Hamilton’s BTCC finale in doubt after dramatic Silverstone fire
Nicolas Hamilton’s British Touring Car Championship season is at risk of ending a week early after his Cupra Leon caught fire during the Silverstone round, forcing him to pull over and bail out before the car went up in flames.
The 33-year-old, who has cerebral palsy and has long been one of the series’ most determined competitors, was running in the opening race when smoke started creeping out from under the car. He coasted to a stop on the Wellington Straight, jumped clear and watched the Cupra ignite as marshals rushed in. No injuries, just a melted Sunday.
It was a jolt for the BTCC paddock on what should have been routine penultimate-round business. Brands Hatch hosts the season finale on October 4–5, but Hamilton’s participation is now a major question depending on whether his team can salvage or replace the scorched car in time.
“What an amazing picture of a very disappointing and scary moment,” he wrote on social media after the race, praising his own calm in the cockpit and the response around him. “After the fire, there is a question mark on whether I will be driving for the last round of the season at Brands Hatch next weekend… If I don’t get the opportunity to finish the season off, I want to thank absolutely everyone for getting behind me this year.”
Hamilton added that he feels he’s been driving the best he ever has in the BTCC since returning to the grid this season after sitting out 2024, even if the results column hasn’t reflected it yet. He remains without a point, but anyone who’s watched his craft this year knows he’s been scrapping hard in a midfield where the margins are razor-thin and the contact is never far away.
His older brother Lewis, now leading Ferrari’s charge in Formula 1 for 2025, hasn’t commented publicly on the incident. The seven-time world champion was in Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on the same weekend, deep in his own championship fight with Ferrari as the season pushes into its autumn stretch. He’s been a regular supporter of Nicolas’s racing through the years, famously sneaking into Donington Park undercover back in 2023 to watch from trackside when the BTCC visited the East Midlands.
If there’s a silver lining here, it’s the way Nicolas handled the moment. Stopping the car in a safe place, clearing out quickly, and trying to limit the damage — that’s textbook under pressure, and it speaks to a driver who’s both situationally sharp and mentally composed. You could see it in the paddock too: a lot of sympathetic faces, a lot of offers of help. BTCC teams can be fierce rivals, but they’re still racers; when a car burns, everybody feels it.
What happens next depends largely on how bad the damage is beneath the crisped bodywork. Fire is unforgiving — wiring looms, brake lines, even the integrity of the chassis can be compromised. A rebuild in five days is possible if the shell is usable and the spares cupboard is deep; a replacement car is the other route, but that brings its own set of logistics and approvals. Either way, it’s a race against the clock.
Brands Hatch deserves him on the grid. It’s the annual pressure cooker, with the Indy layout cramming elbows-out touring car energy into 48 seconds of mayhem. For Hamilton, just being there after the shock of Silverstone would be a small victory. For his crew, firing up a car on Friday after this week’s scramble would feel like winning a title.
Whatever the outcome, this was a stark reminder of the hazards these drivers live with, week in, week out. The BTCC’s safety standards and response times did their job; the driver did his. The rest is down to parts, people, and a little bit of luck — the usual cocktail that decides how a season ends.
