Lewis Hamilton has confirmed the sad news that his beloved dog, Roscoe, has died. The seven-time Formula 1 champion has been by the side of his faithful companion since Wednesday, when he rushed the bulldog to a vet after a “scary few hours” in which his health deteriorated.
But things worsened still on Friday when Hamilton confirmed his dog had fallen into a coma, admitting his worry that they might not be able to wake him again. He told fans on social media: “Please keep Roscoe in your thoughts. I want to keep you all updated. Roscoe caught pneumonia again and was struggling to breathe.
“He was admitted into hospital and sedated to calm him while they did checks on him and during the process his heart stopped. They managed to get a heartbeat back and now he’s in a coma. We don’t know whether he will wake from this. Tomorrow we’ll try to wake him up. I’m by his side and want to thank you all for your prayers and support.”
But Hamilton has now confirmed the sad news that Roscoe, who was believed to be around 13 years old, has died. In an emotional statement posted to social media on Monday, he said: “Lost my best friend last night. Thank you all for the love you’ve shown him over the years. Roscoe forever.”
Hamilton adopted Roscoe back in 2013 and his beloved bulldog followed him to plenty of F1 races both at Silverstone and in Europe over the years. That included a trip to Istanbul where the Brit won his seventh drivers’ title which took him level with Michael Schumacher at the top of the all-time list.
Roscoe’s most recent public appearance came at the British Grand Prix in July this year, where he appeared on stage at a fan event with Hamilton for the first time as a Ferrari driver. That was after another bout of pneumonia which the hardy hound had successfully pulled through earlier in the year.
Hamilton said in May that he hoped he would be able to take Roscoe with him to the Italian Grand Prix, to mark his first Monza race as a Ferrari driver. However, his four-legged friend was nowhere to be seen in the paddock at the team’s home event.
Hamilton’s global popularity meant Roscoe also have a particularly large following of his own. The dog had his own Instagram page with a whopping 1.3million followers, many of whom were swift to comment after the sad news was delivered that Roscoe had succumbed to his illness.
Hamilton had been due to travel to Italy on Friday to take part in a Pirelli tyre test at the Mugello circuit. However, he did not make the trip to stay by Roscoe’s side and was replaced by reserve driver Zhou Guanyu who took to the track, sharing the car with Charles Leclerc.
