Even if you don’t know anything about Formula 1 or F1, you’ll have heard of Lewis Hamilton. His fame transcends the world of motorsports, putting him in the same league as celebrity icons like Michael Jordan, David Beckham and Christiano Ronaldo.
Lewis Hamilton is the most successful driver in Formula 1, with seven World Drivers’ Championship titles under his belt. It’s a record that he shares with the legendary Michael Schumacher. Still racing, Hamilton already boasts a legacy comparable to the likes of other F1 greats Niki Lauda and Ayrton Senna. And he recently made headlines by extending his own record for the most F1 wins at a single track, with a ninth British Grand Prix title on 7 July 2024.
Hamilton, currently a Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver but soon to move to Ferrari, is also a force to be reckoned with off the racetrack, making his financial achievements as impressive as his race wins. Forbes estimates his net worth to be £69 million. He ranks among the richest people in the world and is the youngest sportsperson to enter the Sunday Times Rich List 2024.
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But how did Lewis Hamilton make his fortune? We delve into his winnings on and off the racetrack.
Lewis Hamilton’s net worth as a Formula 1 champion
Lewis Hamilton’s journey as a racing driver started in 1993 at the tender age of eight when his dad started taking him to karting events. As a 10-year-old winning another trophy, Hamilton approached Ron Dennis, McLaren’s team principal, and told him that he wanted to race for his team when he was older. In 1998, Hamilton signed to the McLaren driver development program and, in 2007, he entered the world of Formula 1 as a driver for the team.
After enjoying one of the best debut seasons by any driver ever, Hamilton signed a five-year contract worth £35.8million. He won his first F1 World Championship in 2008, becoming the youngest champion in history and the first British champion since Damon Hill in 1996.
In 2013, he signed a three-year contract with Mercedes-AMG Petronas for nearly $83 million, with a salary of $27.6 million per year
Hamilton went on to dominate the 2014 F1 season, winning the championship. After winning his second title, he renewed his contract for three years with a £100 million+ deal with Mercedes, plus kept his image rights, race-winning trophies and his Championship-winning car from last year.
He won five more titles between 2015 and 2020, equalling Michael Schumacher’s previously unbeaten record of seven F1 World Driver Championship titles. In 2021, Hamilton extended his Mercedes deal, which earned him $57 million in the following year according to Forbes. Hamilton overtook David Beckham to become Britain’s richest sportsperson in 2022.
The 2022 season saw a major regulation change that resulted in Red Bull and Max Verstappen dominating the sport. Hamilton had a major dry spell, failing to win a race from 2021 until 2024, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. He marked another high point in his partnership with Mercedes by winning his final home race with the team.
Earlier in 2024, in an unprecedented move that sent shockwaves through the racing world, Hamilton announced that he would be parting ways with Mercedes and joining Ferrari, the oldest surviving Formula 1 team, on a multi-year contract. This announcement saw Ferrari’s stock price surge by nearly $7 billion. Hamilton’s net worth is also expected to be significantly boosted by the move. According to PlanetF1, Hamilton’s pay packet could be around $87 million.
Lewis Hamilton as a cultural icon
As one of the world’s most marketable athletes, the F1 superstar has secured profitable endorsement deals with Tommy Hilfiger, Puma, Sony and Monster Energy.
During 2018’s New York Fashion Week, Hamilton launched a clothing line TOMMYXLEWIS in collaboration with Tommy Hilfiger. And in 2019, he opened a vegan restaurant chain called Neat Burger.
Hamilton has also made several high-profile investments, such as jointly purchasing fashion magazine W, becoming the ambassador for luxury watch company IWC and part-owning NFL team Denver Broncos.
He launched Team X44, which competed in an off-road electric SUV racing series, until withdrawing the team in 2023. In October 2022, he started his own production company, Dawn Apollo Films, whose upcoming projects include a film about Formula 1 starring Brad Pitt.
His other work includes featuring on a song by Christina Aguilera under the pseudonym XNDA, voicing an animated version of himself in the TV series Tooned, making appearances in Cars 2 and Cars 3, and producing several films and documentaries.
As well as getting to drive some of the fastest cars for his day job, Hamilton boasts an impressive private collection of luxury cars, including a £2.2 million LaFerrari Aperta, a £4 million 1966 Shelby Cobra and a £1.1 million 1967 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500.
But there is a lot more to Hamilton than fast cars, fashion and TV. He has heavily contributed to social activism. As the only black driver in Formula 1, Hamilton has been vocal about pushing for more diversity in the industry.
He founded Mission 44 (named after his racing number) – a youth charity pushing for more inclusivity in the racing world. This initiative is supported by F1 through apprenticeships and professional development schemes to facilitate careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and motorsport.
His hard work has not gone unnoticed – he was awarded a knighthood by King Charles III – then the Prince of Wales – at Windsor Castle in December 2021, becoming the fourth F1 driver in history to be knighted. In June 2022, he was made an honorary citizen of Brazil after winning the Brazilian Grand Prix for the third time in 2021.
It seems that nothing can put the brakes on Lewis Hamilton’s success.
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