Lewis Hamilton renews contract with Mercedes for Php 2.8 billion-a-year deal

Lewis Hamilton extends contract with Silver Arrows until 2020, will earn 40 million pounds per year

Racing News

07/23/2018

By the end of this Formula 1 season, reigning world driver's champion Lewis Hamilton's contract with the Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 team will end, leaving him as a free agent. Rather than switching sides however, the Briton recently announced that he has decided to extended his contract with the Silver Arrows until 2020.

“I have been part of the Mercedes racing family for 20 years and I have never been happier inside a team than I am right now. We are on the same wavelength both on and off track – and I am looking forward to winning more in the future and shining even more light on the three-pointed star,” said Hamilton.

The big question now is how much would Hamilton be paid with the new contract signing. According to both the BBC and ESPN, the deal was estimated to be worth up to 40 million pounds a year. Converting that to our local currency, it equates to around Php 2.78 billion. And that's just for a year.

While it may seem like a big amount, Hamilton does show result with the Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 team. Ever since joining the Silver Arrows back in 2013, the British driver has already won three world championships and 44 Grand Prix with the team to date. By the end of 2020, he would have spent a total of eight seasons with the Mercedes team, his longest period with a single team in the spot.

Hamilton says that the contract extension is merely a formality as he and Team Principal and CEO Toto Wolff had previously sat down to talk about it. It was only put to pen and paper, and announce it for formalities sake so he could get on with business as usual.

“We have been aligned with Lewis ever since we first sat down to discuss the details of this contract after last season, but there has understandably been a lot of interest and speculation around the whole process, so it’s good to put all of that to rest and get this thing announced. We signed the final documents this week and didn’t want to keep people waiting any longer!” added Wolff.