Many people have heard of Lewis Hamilton, but not many know much about him, and those who actually know details about his career only focus on him as a Formula One (F1) driver.
You would say that it is more than enough to know about his success in the sport, but when you go deeper into Lewis Hamilton’s life and get a bit curious, you discover he’s more than just a driver and champion.
Businesses have been part of his life since he started earning millions, and whenever the champion breaks a record, many zeros are added to his bank account. Despite us being a bit jealous (without going insane), we have to mention he deserves it after knowing how to sell himself.
Therefore, we will go over this motorsport star career and take some time to learn about his earnings, how he’s making even more money besides prize winnings, and discover if we can become as successful as him.
Who Is Lewis Hamilton?
Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (or just Lewis Hamilton) was born n Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England, on January 7, 1985.
Carmen, his mother, is white or Caucasian, and his father, Anthony, is black, making Lewis mixed-race. However, to this date, Hamilton self-identifies himself as black.
When he was two years old, his parents divorced, leading him to live with his mother and half-sisters up to the age of 12. Then, Hamilton moved in with his stepmother, father, and half-brother Nicolas, a future racing driver.
His passion for cars started when he was five years old. His father bought him a radio-controlled car, which he took to the national BRCA (British Radio Car Association) championship and placed second in the adult competition.
His dad gave him a go-kart as a Christmas gift when he was six years old.
Anthony Hamilton promised to support his son’s racing career as long he continued his education and worked hard in his academics.
As a result, Lewis was educated at the Catholic secondary school The John Henry Newman in Hertfordshire. He played soccer at school and really loved the sport after being an Arsenal fan for years.
He has remarked on several occasions that besides being a driver, he would have considered being a soccer player or cricketer after spending a lot of time in both teams while in high school.
After finishing high school, he began his studies at Cambridge Arts and Sciences in 2001.
Lewis has suffered from racism and bullying during his entire life, which led him to practice karate and always point out how he isn’t less nor more than others.
This has followed him since middle school, and even as one of the best Formula One drivers so far, he continues to receive some criticism and hate comments of this indole.
Racing Career: Starring McLaren & Mercedes
Since his father was willing to support him in his racing career to the point of taking four jobs to finance several expenses along with his education, Hamilton started karting at a young age.
In 1993, he was introduced to karting and won several races and cadet class championships not long after.
Then, in 1995, he won the British cadet karting championship, making him the youngest driver to win it by only being ten.
One of the most memorable moves that defined his future career occurred during the same year when he met McLaren Formula One team boss, Ron Dennis.
After getting close to him in order to request an autograph, Lewis introduced himself as a driver and mentioned his victory in the British competition while also letting Dennis know how much he wanted to race McLaren’s cars someday.
This event led Dennis to give him an autograph in which he wrote to phone him in nine years.
It didn’t take too long until Ron called him instead of the opposite after Hamilton won the Super One and British championships.
This took place in 1998 when Dennis also offered a role in the McLaren driver development program, which Lewis didn’t take long to accept since the contract included an option of a future F1 set.
From here, Hamilton kept climbing and growing as a driver, adding the International A in 1999, Formula A in 2000, and Formula Super A to his ranks, followed by becoming the European Champion in 2000.
From 2001 to 2007, Hamilton participated in the Formula Renault and Formula Three.
He finished fifth during the British Formula Renault 2001, which led him to a campaign with Manor Motorsport.
In the following years, he won the Bahrain F3 Super Prix and twice raced in the Macau F3 Grand Prix in 2001 and 2002.
Then, from 2004 to 2006, Hamilton raced with the ASM Formula Renault team, which led him to win two back-to-back Formula Renault championships.
In 2007, he raced with the ART Grand Prix team, in which he won his first GP Series title and became a champion of the prestigious Monaco race.
Later this year, he was made an official Formula One McLaren driver.
He is the only black racecar driver in this sport, and in 2007, he finished second to Kimi Raikkonen.
Hamilton won the F1 World Championship in 2008 for the first time, taking the win in the season’s final race.
Despite his preference and career with McLaren, in 2013, he signed to drive for Mercedes.
With the team, he won five additional World Championships in 2014. This included back-to-back titles for 2014 and 2015. In 2017, 2018, and 2019, Hamilton won consecutive titles for the first time in his professional career.
In 2020, Lewis won the F1 title and equaled Michael Schumacher’s record of seven championships so far.
Lewis Hamilton’s Achievements & Records
- 1rst place in the Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship (2003).
- Bahrain Super Prix champion in 2004.
- Won the Formula 3 Euro Series Championship (2005).
- Masters of Formula 3 Race champion (2005).
- Winner of the GP2 Series Championship (2006).
- 21 Grand Prix wins with McLaren.
- 99 Grand Prix wins in total.
- Seven titles in Formula 1.
- He holds the records for most career wins, most pole positions, most podium finishes, most career points, most laps led, and over ten others.
- He is the first and only black driver in Formula One.
How Much Is the F1 Star Worth?
Lewis is the highest-paid racer when it comes to numbers and salary, which is thanks to all his career, wins, and broken records achieved.
Many would expect that an F1 racer wouldn’t earn a lot of money except for prize winnings. However, when you also have a brand like McLaren or Mercedes promoting you and having you as part of the team, you can expect great options.
According to Forbes, Lewis Hamilton’s net worth is $82 million, from which $70 million are from on-the-field earnings and contracts, while the other $12 million are off-the-field earnings.
His current salary with Mercedes is up to $55 million, and an additional clause of extra payment for race wins is included in the contract with the team.
This makes him earn double what his competitors are offered in several contracts. It is estimated that Lewis will continue to reach over $60 million in base salary for 2022 if continuing his successful races and career.
Besides his base earnings, Hamilton has invested in real estate.
In 2017, he bought a penthouse in New York for $43.9 million despite selling it between 2019 and 2020 for over $55 million.
To this date, he continues to own a four-story mansion with six bedrooms in Kensington, West London, which is worth around $25 million.
Other apartments in Nyon, Switzerland, and Monaco are also included in the real estate properties owned.
However, what about the $12 million we’re missing from off-the-field earnings?
Most of it comes from endorsements and sponsors. He is part of Bose, Tommy Hilfiger, and L’Oréal ambassadors.
He also endorses IWC watches and MV Agusta Motors. His most recent business venture is his clothing line in partnership with Tommy Hilfiger.
The numbers for his earnings in specific based on each sponsor and brand aren’t available to the public. Instead, Hamilton keeps the details about his contracts and deals with companies quite private. However, it is simple to say that he isn’t earning a few pennies with them.
Social Impact: Making A Change
Hamilton has always been keen on talking about racism and encouraging the campaign of Black Lives Matter. In fact, he changed his car to a completely Mercedes black model in order to send a message.
He continuously talks about several social issues, including the lack of education for children, animal welfare, and essential resources for other countries and the USA.
He recently launched a new charitable foundation called Mission 44, which will focus on donating over $25 million in the next few years to young people to help with several needs and education.
Meanwhile, he continuously donates over $500.000 to help fight Australian bushfires after the incident that involved over a billion animals killed.
While focusing on charity and bringing real social impact to set an example, Lewis has always expressed how unsatisfied he is with the shallow diversity in F1 by being the only black racer in history.
Overall, the star doesn’t stay put to injustices and contributes in everything he can to the world, which makes him an excellent example for the next generation and someone people should copy right away.
Drifting away from his social impact, we can expect Lewis to remain with the Mercedes Formula One team for the next few seasons. However, we never know what he is thinking, but we consider that it is hard to decide to part ways after several years with such a contract and great sponsors.
5 Inspirational Quotes by Lewis Hamilton
- “Sure, every driver has his value, and you want to be respected, but again, money is not something that drives me.”
- “I feel like people are expecting me to fail. Therefore, I expect myself to win.”
- “I don’t aspire to be like other drivers – I aspire to be unique in my own way.”
- “I want to crush everyone. I want to outsmart everyone.”
“I always remind myself if I’m having a down day because of a bad race, it’s not just me. That feeling I’m having is shared by my family, the team, and my fans. When we win, they feel joy as well. That’s why I say we win and lose together, and I definitely couldn’t do it without them.”
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