Lewis Hamilton makes Ferrari billions overnight, to pocket eyewatering salary

Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari will see the veteran driver pocket an eyewatering salary and has already made the team a fortune.

Ferrari’s value has skyrocketed by over A$5.8 billion following the news Lewis Hamilton is set to join the team in 2025.

The seven-time world champion will leave Mercedes at the end the 2024 F1 season to join Ferrari next year, partnering Charles Leclerc on the grid.

Following the shock news Ferrari’s share price has increased by six per cent, with their value rising by A$6.12billion, The Sun reports.

The Italian firm also announced their financial results on the same day the Hamilton news broke.

Growth in revenues and earnings were confirmed by Ferrari for the 2023 financial year.

Ferrari’s share price hit a record high of A$588 on the New York Stock Exchange and the company’s market value has increased to around A$105 billion.

The company is closing in on a market value of USD$100 billion and Ferrari could crack that milestone soon if Hamilton’s early effect on the market is anything to go by.

Multiple publications including Crash.net are reporting Hamilton could be paid a whopping USD$100 million (A$153 million) as part of his new Ferrari deal.

That eyewatering salary would also include sponsors, image rights and bonuses.

Hamilton’s current Mercedes deal sees him earn A$84 million per year.

Lewis Hamilton has already made Ferrari a tonne of money. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS and Giuseppe CACACE / AFP)

Hamilton’s move to Ferrari comes thanks to a break clause in the two-year deal he signed with Mercedes last season.

The clause allows him to leave the team at the end of 2024, with Ferrari set to swoop for the British driver.

He will replace Carlos Sainz at Ferrari and partner Leclerc next year.

Hamilton’s exit will bring to an end an 11-year association with Mercedes, which began in 2013.

During that time, he has won six world titles, including four in a row between 2017 and 2020.

However, he is without a race win since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The 39-year-old was able to secure three second-place finishes last season, though, in Australia, Spain and Mexico.

He ended the 2023 Drivers’ Championship in third behind Red Bull duo Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

The rumour mill has already gone into overdrive about who will replace Hamilton and join George Russell at Mercedes in 2025.

The F1 season begins at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday March 2 Australian time.

Italy reacts to Hamilton bombshell

Still basking in Jannik Sinner’s triumph at the Australian Open, Hamilton switching to Ferrari was hailed as a “coup of global proportions” by daily Corriere Della Sera.

“A team which created history in motor racing is being united with a great champion... I expect electric competition, race after race, which will drive up interest across the board,” wrote former Ferrari driver Jean Alesi in the newspaper.

Hamilton’s Mercedes era is over. (Photo by Andrej ISAKOVIC / AFP)

Italy’s biggest sports newspaper La Gazzetta Dello Sport dedicated nine pages to Hamilton and Ferrari on Friday, a huge deal for a publication in which football dominates coverage.

But not even Sunday’s huge Serie A clash between Inter Milan and Juventus could shift Hamilton from the main front page story, as the famous pink sports daily welcomed the seven-time world champion to Italy.

The Gazzetta described the move as a “gamble”, in particular because Ferrari, who have not won the F1 driver’s championship since 2007 and the constructors’ since 2008, now need to provide him with “the perfect car to make history”.

Hamilton is chasing a record eighth title which would take him past F1 icon Michael Schumacher, whose seven titles included five in succession with Ferrari from 2000 to 2004.

The Gazzetta also highlighted how the move for Hamilton could created problems for Ferrari with Charles Leclerc, who recently signed a long-term contract with the Scuderia.

Turin-based daily La Stampa spoke to Riccardo Ceccarelli, the founder of the Formula Medicine training centre which works with Leclerc.

“Lewis doesn’t look his age and he still has a long career in front of him,” said Ceccarelli.

“We tend to think of reaction times and reflexes as being the most important things in motor sport, but what counts more is motivation and Hamilton is super motivated.”

This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission.

— With AFP