Lewis Hamilton has just shown that the INEOS Grenadier can really take a… bow. Because he did not spare the off-roader on or off the road. INEOS owner and Mercedes-AMG Petronas sponsor Jim Ratcliffe was his co-driver.
Sir Lewis Hamilton and Sir Jim Ratcliffe took the recently launched INEOS Grenadier for a joy ride. So what happens when a seven-time F1 World Champion gets his hands on a car designed for the great wild? He does a hand-brake turn, that’s what happens!
“Surprising for a Formula 1 driver!”, Ratcliffe says.
Lewis simply ignores the “Danger. Deep water” indicator. He asks his co-driver if it really is deep. “I think you’ll have to close your window,” he recommends.
The moment of truth comes and Jim Ratcliffe expects to hear Lewis Hamilton’s honest opinion. “It definitely felt James Bond-like,” he concludes. He’d go for some extra lights on the roof and meatier tires. “Massively surprised by how much grip there is, the traction.”
“It was designed to be good off road. But we didn’t know it was going to be as good as it is on the road,” the owner of the brand explains. It’s not the Defender that he originally wanted to build. But it’s probably the next best thing. “I can honestly say I don’t think that anybody has driven it like Lewis did today.”
The best part is that the car and the occupants left the off-road course in one piece. Despite the bangs, booms, and ka-booms that they heard from underneath.
The video was filmed on closed roads. So do not attempt to replicate this on public roads. Besides, you’re no seven-time world champion either.
The production of the INEOS Grenadier 4X4 kicked off in summer. It rolls off the assembly line in the former smart facility in France, with a steel ladder chassis, beam axles long-travel progressive-rate coil spring suspension, and BMW engines. The British manufacturer builds the Grenadier as an almighty off-roader, ready to fight the Mercedes-Benz G-Class and its inspiration: the Land Rover Defender.
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