Lewis Hamilton is the most successful driver in Formula 1 history. He was a prodigy that gradually turned into one of the greatest if not the greatest drivers to ever set foot inside a racing car. He has won 95 wins and 98 pole positions and 165 podium finishes. Born and raised in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, Hamilton was signed to the McLaren young driver programme in 1998. This later resulted in a Formula One drive with McLaren in 2007, making Lewis Hamilton the first black driver to race in the sport. That season, Hamilton set numerous records as he finished runner-up to Kimi Räikkönen by one point.
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The following season, he won his maiden title in dramatic fashion, making a crucial overtake on the last corner of the last lap in the last race of the season—to become the then-youngest Formula One World Champion in history. After four more years with McLaren, Hamilton signed with Mercedes in 2013.Changes to the regulations for 2014 mandating the use of turbo-hybrid engines came at the start of a highly successful period for Hamilton, during which he has won six further drivers' titles. Hamilton won consecutive titles in 2014 and 2015 during an intense rivalry with teammate Nico Rosberg to match his hero Ayrton Senna's three World Championships.
Following Rosberg's retirement, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel became Hamilton's closest rival in two intense championship battles, and Hamilton twice overturned mid-season points deficits to claim consecutive titles again in 2017 and 2018. Hamilton won his third and fourth titles in a row in 2019 and 2020, respectively, equalling Schumacher's record of seven drivers' titles.
Net Worth:
In 2018, he signed a two-year contract extension with the team, giving him a base salary of $30million with bonuses pushing it to over $50 million (According to Forbes) per annum for 2019 and 2020. Forbes estimated him at $54 million as of May 2020. Which consists of $12 million from endorsements alone. His career earnings make his net worth close to $285 million.
Salary:
Lewis Hamilton signed a three-year deal with Mercedes F1 team in 2015 worth $31 million-a-year guaranteed salary and up to $10 million in bonus, estimated a total of $120 million. This makes the 33-year-old driver the highest paid driver in F1 currently with a salary of $42 million in 2018. Hamilton has signed a contract extension with Mercedes until 2020 for a whopping 40 million pound per year.
Hamilton is the highest paid British Athlete in the world who also topped the list for richest F1 driver in Forbes 2018. In 2019, Lewis Hamilton is the highest paid driver with a salary of €50,000,000.
Endorsements:
The popularity that Lewis Hamilton enjoys, he is the centrepiece of a lot of endorsements. His interest in designing saw him have a very close collaboration with Tommy Hilfiger. Apart from this, he has endorsements from Monster Energy, Puma, IWC, Sony, Bose, Bell Helmets, MV Agusta Motorcycles, and more. He is the most marketable driver on the F1 grid at the moment. He is also the face and official ambassador of the popular racing game, Gran Turismo Sport. As of 2020, his endorsements are worth $12 Million.
Cars:
McLaren P1, 1966 Shelby Cobra 427, Ferrari LaFerrari, Vision Mercedes Maybach 6, Pagani Zonda 760, Mercedes AMG GTR, Ferrari 599 Aperta, Mercedes Maybach S600, Mercedes AMG G63, Mercedes SLS AMG, Ford Shelby Mustang GT500, Mercedes AMG Project One.
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