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 sporting icons like Michael Jordan, David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo and Rory McIlroy.
Lewis Hamilton is one of the most successful drivers in Formula One, with seven World Drivers’ Championship titles under his belt. It’s a record that he shares with the legendary Michael Schumacher.
Hamilton already boasts a legacy comparable to the likes of other F1 greats Niki Lauda and Ayrton Senna. He made headlines by extending his record for the most F1 wins at a single track, with a ninth British Grand Prix title on 7 July 2024.
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Hamilton also holds the title for most career wins (105) and has the second-highest race starts (362) in F1.
Formerly a Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver, Hamilton made the highly anticipated move to Scuderia Ferrari, F1’s oldest surviving and most successful team, this year.
Forbes estimates his net worth to be £69 million, from earnings both on and off the racetrack. He ranks among the richest people in the world and is the youngest sportsperson to enter the Sunday Times Rich List 2024.
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 age of eight when his dad started taking him to karting events. Then, as a 10-year-old trophy-winner, Hamilton approached Ron Dennis, McLaren’s founder and (then) 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 One as a driver for the team.
After enjoying one of the best debut seasons by any driver ever, Hamilton signed a five-year contract with McLaren worth £35.8 million. He won his first F1 World Championship in 2008, becoming the youngest winner in history and the first British champion since Damon Hill in 1996.
In 2013, Hamilton made a shock decision to quit McLaren and signed a three-year contract with Mercedes-AMG Petronas for nearly $83 million, with a salary of $27.6 million per year. While many initially questioned this move, it ended up working in Hamilton’s favour. He went on to dominate the 2014 F1 season and ultimately won the championship.
From there, as they say, the rest is history. After winning his second title, Hamilton renewed his Mercedes contract; signing for three years with a £100 million+ deal, and in addition, he kept his image rights.
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 failed to win a race from 2021 up until the 2024 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 on a multi-year contract. This announcement saw Ferrari’s stock price soar by more than 10%, while its market capitalisation nearly hit $7 billion, Autosport reported.
According to Sporting News, Hamilton’s pay packet is around $60 million, but this is just his base salary. He’s expected to rake in around $100 million, including bonuses.
Lewis Hamilton as a cultural icon
Hamilton was awarded a knighthood by King Charles III – then the Prince of Wales – at Windsor Castle in December 2021. It made him 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.
As one of the world’s most marketable athletes, the F1 superstar has secured profitable endorsement deals with Tommy Hilfiger, Puma, Monster Energy and Lululemon.
Sir Lewis Hamilton is also the ambassador of Dior and collaborated with the French luxury house for a Lifestyle Capsule collection.
He (along with actor Leonardo DiCaprio) is one of the several high-profile investors for Neat Burger, a vegan restaurant chain that has recently closed its final UK sites in London despite being valued at £51 million in 2021.
Hamilton has made several high-profile investments, such as jointly purchasing fashion magazine W, becoming an ambassador for the 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 from the team in 2023.
In October 2022, Hamilton started his own production company, Dawn Apollo Films, whose upcoming project includes F1, a film about Formula One starring Brad Pitt, with a budget of approximately $300 million. The film is set to release in June 2025.
As an angel investor, he founded Almave, which sells non-alcoholic blue agave spirits, distilled in Mexico.
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.
Hamilton was also the co-chair of the 2025 Met Gala, which is an annual fundraising event for the Costume Institute wing at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
As well as getting to drive some of the fastest cars for his day job, Hamilton boasts an impressive private collection of luxury cars. According to Parade, his collection includes a $20 million 1995 McLaren F1, a $4.1 million Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta, and a $1.4 million 1967 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500.
There is a lot more to Hamilton than fast cars and fashion. He has heavily contributed to social activism. As the only black driver in Formula One, 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.
It seems that nothing can put the brakes on Lewis Hamilton’s success.
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