As Lewis Hamilton’s $50 Million Switch to Ferrari Gains Traction, Red Bull Chief Helmut Marko Calls 7x F1 Champ Jealous

Lewis Hamilton’s rumored switch to Ferrari is now the hottest news in Formula 1. As the Mercedes star’s $50 million switch to the Italian team gained traction, Helmut Marko used this situation and termed the seven-time world champion jealous.

In recent developments, Hamilton‘s switch from Mercedes has been the talk of the town. The 2023 F1 season is his last year with Mercedes, and he’s yet to sign a contract extension.

With things not going down well at Brackley due to its far from competitive W14, multiple reports say Ferrari president John Elkann is ready to splash millions to bring the Briton to Maranello.

In the context of making a top-notch brigade, Elkann is all ready to rope in Hamilton and put him alongside Charles Leclerc to create a super team, the reports say. However, with all these rumors et to have a concrete base, Marko used this opportunity to take his dig at the rival from Mercedes.

Marko pokes Hamilton with his weapon

The Red Bull taskmaster, who’s often hostile to the 38-year-old, showcased a new way to poke Hamilton. According to the Dutch version of Racingnews365, Marko said to an F1 insider that the Mercedes star might be ‘annoyed’ at the current situation.

“There are two things that really bother Hamilton: that he is no longer the world champion and that he has a hard time becoming this again,” the taskmaster conveyed.

However, the 80-year-old decided to strike the main blow when he said, “Besides the sporting perspective, Lewis is anything but happy that he is no longer the highest-paid driver in Formula 1. That is Max Verstappen now.”

Following this, he added that there is no place for the Silver Arrows ace in Red Bull, and even if he jumps ship to Ferrari, it’s not sure if they are better than the eight-time world champions currently.

Why Marko believes Hamilton is jealous?

The Red Bull veteran claims Lewis Hamilton is jealous because he is no more the highest-paid driver in Formula 1, which is true. The current highest-paid driver is the defending champion Verstappen, who takes an annual salary of $60 million.

Out of the $60 million, he gets $40 million from his salary and $20 million as bonuses. Compared to him, the former McLaren star gets $55 million and no bonus, as per Forbes. Furthermore, the Dutchman is in the top three of the list of highest-paid athletes under 25.

Nevertheless, Marko added that the Briton’s ‘jealousy’ could end if he switched to Ferrari. This is because the reports say John Elkann is ready with a massive $50 million deal to lure Hamilton to Maranello.