Report: Lewis Hamilton's new deal worth staggering $140 million
Defending F1 champion Lewis Hamilton announced on Wednesday that he signed a new three-year extension that will keep him with Mercedes through the 2018 season.
According to Forbes, the deal is worth nearly $140 million over the three-year span thanks to a base salary of roughly $32 million and additional bonuses pushing it north of $45 million per year. The report goes on to say that Hamilton's deal is one of the richest in sports, with only Floyd Mayweather, Sebastian Vettel, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi earning more on an annual basis from their contracts.
What's even more impressive is that Hamilton negotiated the deal on his own, joking that he earned his "10 percent."
"I took my time. Some weeks I thought about it, some weeks I didn't," said Hamilton, who represents himself since splitting with his advisers after last season. "It was also the first time I'd ever done it so there was a lot to learn, there was a lot of studying to do, to really understand everything. It was great. I earned my 10 percent."
Since joining Mercedes in 2013, Hamilton has won 15 races and secured 16 poles, in addition to winning the 2014 Formula One World Championship. Despite this success and Hamilton's loyalty to the team, there were still rumors of him leaving to drive for Ferrari.
"I said to Mercedes from the get-go that I wasn't planning to speak to anyone and I believe that they did the same," said Hamilton. "So it was a very easy decision to make and it's also great that the team wanted to continue working with me."
Associated Press contributed to this report.
