Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari contract comprises a clause that would blow up within the face of the Italian crew.
Lewis Hamilton’s spell at Ferrari hasn’t been going to plan (Picture: Getty)
When Lewis Hamilton signed for Ferrari in February 2024, it felt like a match made in heaven. System 1’s most profitable crew had secured the joint-most profitable driver. On paper, it was good. In actuality, it has been something however. Hamilton’s debut season in pink led to a deeply disappointing sixth place, with no single podium end to his identify.
He ended up greater than 250 factors adrift of world champion Lando Norris and, maybe extra damningly, practically 100 factors behind his personal team-mate Charles Leclerc. Put merely, nothing has gone to plan. If something, the marketing campaign has bordered on disastrous. Any hopes of tearing up the script and beginning afresh have been additional dented by the reported phrases of Hamilton’s Ferrari contract, which have lately emerged. In line with BILD, the deal doesn’t expire for an additional two years – and it features a clause permitting the 40-year-old to increase his keep by an extra 12 months.
That choice, reportedly value £41million per 12 months, means Ferrari could also be tied to Hamilton far longer than they’d like. It additionally means Hamilton may very well be practically 44 years outdated by the point his stint at Ferrari ends – which might make him one of many oldest drivers in trendy F1 historical past.
Ferrari are mentioned to be absolutely conscious of the complexity of the scenario. Whereas Hamilton stays a robust model ambassador – one able to attracting followers and prospects throughout the globe – that alone can’t justify a scarcity of outcomes on observe. In any case, Ferrari made him the second-highest-paid driver in F1, behind solely Max Verstappen, who earns round £55million per 12 months at Crimson Bull, and expectations inevitably adopted.
Underwhelming type is not precisely unfamiliar territory for both Ferrari or Hamilton. The Scuderia haven’t had a world champion since Kimi Raikkonen claimed the title in 2007, a drought that has solely heightened the stress on their largest signings.
Hamilton, in the meantime, has been out of the championship image for 4 consecutive seasons. Since being narrowly denied the title by Verstappen within the ultimate race of 2021, he has completed the season greater than sixth simply as soon as within the years which have adopted.
That lone shiny spot got here in 2023, when he completed third total, albeit greater than 250 factors behind Verstappen, who cruised to the championship that season. Regardless of his decline, Ferrari crew principal Fred Vasseur is reportedly nonetheless satisfied of Hamilton’s driving capability, at the same time as he approaches his forty first birthday.
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Vasseur additionally believes the Brit’s international profile, legacy and huge expertise can type an important basis for Ferrari’s long-term transformation. Nevertheless, with out tangible success on the observe, Ferrari’s high-profile seize dangers happening as one of the crucial costly miscalculations in System 1 historical past.
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