There is still confusion surrounding Lewis Hamilton’s contract negotiation with Mercedes. However, a recent report by The Sun stated that the British driver might have a staggering rise in his contract extension. He could get a raise of $28,500,000, and if that happens, Hamilton will once again be the highest-paid F1 driver on the grid, a notch above Max Verstappen.
Verstappen is currently the most sought-after man on the grid. With two back-to-back title wins in his back and on his way to winning the third, Red Bull has rewarded him with a massive increase in his salary.
According to Sportrac, the Dutchman now gets $55,000,000 a season. However, being the richest on the grid was once Hamilton’s spot. The successes of the 2022 season helped Verstappen climb up the ladder with a massive paycheck in hand.
On the contrary, Mercedes and Hamilton were not competitive enough, the payroll also slumped significantly for the star driver. Hence, he came down quite a bit compared to the defending F1 champion Verstappen. According to Racingnews365, Hamilton is currently paid $35,000,000. [All figures exclude bonuses] Therefore, with the huge raise, he will overtake the Red Bull star.
Lewis Hamilton looking at a significant raise in salary
According to the latest updates, the long-standing negotiation of Hamilton’s contract extension with the Silver Arrows seems to have come to an end, finally. Therefore, the agreement of the huge pay raise has come out in the open, at least for now.
As per the report, Hamilton and Mercedes are believed to have agreed on a contract for two years. Therefore, if the $28,500,000 is added to Hamilton’s current salary, the seven-time world champion will make $63,500,000 per year. That means he will be earning $8,500,000 more than Verstappen, and that too without bonuses.
However, there have not been any concrete statements either from the team or from the driver on the contract extension. Nevertheless, with the long-standing contract saga coming to an end, the British driver did not exactly get what he looked for.
Despite the massive pay rise, Hamilton’s wishes remained unfulfilled
As the contract negotiation was going on between Lewis Hamilton and his team, there were reports that the 38-year-old wanted an ambassador role at Mercedes after his retirement.
He wanted the role for 10 years with $25 million per year and $250 million in total. However, the team and Toto Wolff reportedly did not agree to that. However, Wolff in his recent comments snubbed all of that.
Nevertheless, this has been a pretty long contract negotiation between the two parties. If this hefty pay raise is finalized, then Lewis Hamilton might be happy with his pay, and on the other hand, Mercedes would be happy too by keeping the Silver Arrows legend in the team.
