Fortune and fame beckon for Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton
LEWIS HAMILTON woke yesterday, turned over in his king-size bed and surveyed the sumptuous surroundings of his hotel suite. There was no hangover and no elation, just the realisation that this was the first day of the rest of his life.
Hamilton has spent half his 22 years as a prodigy, but winning the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday was the fulfilment of his dreams, reward for the devotion of his father, Anthony, and payback on a €7.5m investment in him by the McLaren team.
The race marked a turning point in the life of a young driver who is no longer a mere rookie. Hamilton is the World Championship leader and on a fast track to riches and international stardom.
Paddock experts have stopped comparing him to his 21 peers on the Formula One grid and now bracket him in the same league as David Beckham and Tiger Woods, sportsmen who took their earnings and fame to stratospheric levels. And there is no escaping that, like Woods, Hamilton is black - the first black driver in Formula One and a role model for millions of youngsters.
Hamilton's life is about to change for ever. This is how:
THE HOME
Home was a small flat in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, where he lived with Anthony, who split from Carmen, Lewis's mother, when he was two. Anthony at one time held down three jobs to keep the money coming in. When McLaren stepped in to finance the young racer's career, Lewis, his father and Linda, his stepmother, moved to a house in Tewin, a village near Stevenage.
Lewis now lives mostly in a €1.5m mansion in Woking, Surrey, to be near the McLaren factory. Will he follow the advice of accountants and move abroad, to a harbour-front apartment in Monaco alongside Jenson Button and David Coulthard, or to Switzerland, where Fernando Alonso, his team-mate, is going to avoid the long arm of the British taxman? Or will he want a vast Swiss farmhouse like Michael Schmacher's, complete with health centre, cinema and petrol station?
THE MONEY
Hamilton is on a comparatively meagre €600,000 this year, although bonus payments will push that to more than €1.5m - especially if he is crowned world champion. After that, all bets are off.
So far, Anthony has managed his son's affairs, but there is a gaggle of leading international agents waiting to pounce and start the till ringing. Keeping Hamilton will cost McLaren a fortune - some estimate as much as €200m in salary alone for a five-year deal, making him the highest-paid driver ever.
THE SPONSORS
Not only is Hamilton a winner, he is handsome, articulate and brilliant with corporate guests, which is why he is the face of Vodafone and a poster boy for Tag Heuer, the luxury watch manufacturer.
Steinmetz, one of the world's most exclusive diamond houses, is providing the glitter of a diamond earring.
Beckham earns an estimated €15m annually from sponsorship deals; Schumacher pocketed about €25m a year. Hamilton's appeal will be even greater as a racing driver who is young, gifted - and black.
THE WOMEN
The first kiss-and-tell has appeared in a British tabloid as a schoolmate from Stevenage breathlessly told of their first romantic encounter in the back of Hamilton's Mini. But he proclaims himself in love with Jodia Ma, the teenage sweetheart he met at Cambridge Arts and Science College. The drawback is that she is from Hong Kong and he travels the world. Hamilton has ordered a €15,000 diamond bracelet for Ma, but Formula One is awash with beautiful women and he would not be the first racing driver to have his head turned.
THE RIVALS
Hamilton has no fear and an uncanny ability to unnerve his competitors, but the dividing line between confidence and arrogance is fine and some drivers have had enough of the Hamilton Factor.
The youngster did not endear himself to some of his rivals when he described backmarkers recently as "monkeys".
THE SPORT
Bernie Ecclestone is rubbing his hands with glee. Formula One's ringmaster was stuck with a show that was losing fans in increasing numbers. Schumacher was a serial winner, but outside Germany and Italy, home of the retired former champion's Ferrari team, he was a turn-off for millions.
Hamilton is pure box office. ITV said that viewing figures on Sunday leapt to 7.7m, while Silverstone is expecting its biggest crowd for years after a rush for tickets for the British Grand Prix on July 8.
But the interest is coming from all over the world, with camera crews from places as far afield as Colombia and Russia queueing for interviews. © The Times, London
- Kevin Eason
