It is unarguably apparent that Lewis Hamilton is one of the biggest drivers in Formula One in contemporary times. The British racing driver has won seven world championships with a relentless hunger for more laurels.
He had his debut in 2007 with McLaren. The following year, he declared his intention to the world after winning his first World Championship. Hamilton moved to Mercedes in 2013 and changed the fortunes of the team. Since 2014, he has dominated Formula One, losing only the 2016 season championship to his teammate at the time, Nico Rosberg.
His success on the field is in apposite similitude to being one of the top-earning athletes across the globe. In 2018, he signed a two-year contract with Mercedes at a worth of $100 million, giving him a base salary of $30 million annually and bonuses which will see his total stem from Mercedes push to $50 million.
In 2020 Forbes list of world’s highest-paid athlete, he is ranked 13th with an annual salary of $42 million. Celebrity Net Worth puts his net worth at $285 million.
However, his popularity got him some endorsements from global brands. In 2018, he went into a collaboration with Tommy Hilfiger to promote its line of menswear, underwear, and swimwear. He also has endorsement deals from Monster Energy, Puma, IWC, Sony, Bose, Bell Helmets, MV Agusta Motorcycles, and recently added telecom Vodafone to his endorsement portfolio. According to Forbes, his endorsement deals amount to $12 million.
Hamilton, like many celebrities, loves to spend on luxurious estates. In 2017, he bought a New York penthouse for $43.9 million. He, however, listed the property for $57 million. He also owns a four-story mansion with six bedrooms in Kensington, West London that was built in 1860 and is worth $25 million.
The Mercedes driver also owns apartments in Nyon, a suburb of Geneva, Switzerland, and in Monaco, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
Born in 1985, in England (Stevenage, Hertfordshire) to a Caucasian mother and a Black father, Anthony. His parents divorced when he was only two years. He lived with his mother until he was 12. He then went to stay with his father.
Hamilton, who identifies himself as Black, attended Catholic secondary school, The John Henry Newman School in Hertfordshire. From there, he studied at Cambridge Arts and Sciences. He once said in an interview that he was bullied while in school but that made him tougher. “I had a lot of racism growing up where I grew up,” Hamilton told Complex magazine. “Bullied at school. It definitely encouraged me. It’s like battle wounds – you come out the other side and it just makes you tougher.”
The 36-year-old champion’s career in car racing began when he signed up with the McLaren young driver program and subsequently became an official Formula One McLaren driver in 2007. According to Celebrity Net Worth, he is the first and only Black race car driver in the sport.
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[…] Lewis Hamilton has declared that he will be changing his name in honor of his mother. The seven-time Formula One world champion revealed that he intends to use his mother Carmen Lockhart’s maiden name, Larbalestier, in his surname. […]