Izzy Hammond Crashes a Formula E GEN3 Evo in Jeddah, Walks Away Unhurt

When Izzy Hammond climbed into a Formula E GEN3 Evo car in Jeddah this weekend, it wasn’t just another influencer activation. It was a Hammond back behind the wheel of a genuine race car, and for a few tense seconds on Sunday, that family history came rushing back for anyone watching.

What the Evo Sessions Actually Involve

The 25-year-old journalist and YouTuber was taking part in Formula E’s Evo Sessions program, which puts high-profile digital creators behind the wheel of the all-electric GEN3 Evo to build broader interest in the series. Participants go through simulator preparation and on-site instruction before ever touching the track, and the sessions are run with real supervised structure rather than functioning as a pure publicity stunt. This is serious machinery, not a prop built for a photo opportunity.

The Crash at Turn 13

At Turn 13 of the modified Jeddah Corniche Circuit, the experience turned real in an instant. Izzy lost control and struck the concrete barrier on the right-hand side of the circuit, causing significant damage to the car and ending her session immediately. She later described the crash as “scary,” and medical evaluations confirmed she avoided serious injury, with a health update reassuring fans she was okay even though the car itself didn’t come away nearly as lucky.

Why the Hammond Name Adds Weight to This Story

For longtime motorsport fans, seeing a Hammond in a single-seater crash carries obvious emotional weight. Richard Hammond’s 2006 jet-powered dragster crash remains one of the most dramatic and widely remembered incidents in automotive television history, and watching his daughter go off at speed inevitably brings that memory back, even though the two situations are almost entirely unrelated in cause and context. Izzy reportedly joked afterward that her dad was probably watching and “going to cry,” a line that summed up the moment better than a formal statement could have.

Controlled Risk Is Still Risk

These Evo Sessions run under full safety protocols, and the GEN3 Evo chassis is engineered with modern impact protection built specifically to handle incidents exactly like this one. But even in a controlled environment with professional supervision, racing doesn’t eliminate risk entirely. High-performance cars demand precision, and once grip is lost at speed, a concrete barrier arrives a lot faster than a driver expects.

For Formula E, a crash like this actually reinforces the program’s credibility rather than undercutting it: the cars are real race machines, the speeds are real, and the consequences, even under supervision, are real. For fans, it’s a reminder that a passion for speed tends to run through families, and on Sunday, the Hammond name’s long association with automotive adventure passed to a new generation, hit a wall, and walked away. In racing, that’s sometimes the only headline that actually matters.

About the Author

Shawn Henry

Administrator

Shawn Henry has spent years writing about cars, and it shows—not in a resume kind of way, but in how he talks about them. He's the type who'll notice the weird trim option nobody remembers and actually know why it mattered. At Backfire News, he covers pretty much the whole spectrum: off-road trucks and trail builds, performance cars, racing, and the collector market. He's comfortable getting into the technical weeds, but he never forgets that most people read about cars because cars are fun, not because they want a spec sheet. His beat runs from classic and collector vehicles to overlanding culture, modified performance builds, new automotive tech, and the industry news that actually affects what ends up in your driveway. Mostly, though, Shawn thinks the best car stories are about people—the builds they pour money into, the road trips, the communities that form around a shared obsession. That's the stuff he likes writing about, and it's what you'll find in his work here.

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