Seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton broke a promise when he refused to pay $3 million to his father Anthony.
Hamilton has often stated how important a role his father played in kickstarting his racing career. Unlike most F1 stars, he did not come from a wealthy family, but his father worked tirelessly in order to help his son achieve his dream.
Anthony Hamilton made a lot of sacrifices, and his son is eternally grateful for that. Behind all the love and admiration, however, there was a time when money came in between their relationship.
Anthony was his son’s manager during his initial F1 days, but he took any money. He also never accepted any gifts from Lewis Hamilton. “Some of us do it so that our kids have better opportunities than we had,” he said.
“For the love of the child,” the 66-year-old continued. “When he won his title in 2008 he thanked me and that was all I needed for my 18 years of toil and graft.”
Lewis Hamilton promised to pay his father $3 million dollars after splitting up
Hamilton had his own father as manager until 2010, after they decided to split up. It was then that the then McLaren driver offered his father a sum between $3-4 million. The reason behind this wasn’t clear, but it may have been a sign of guilt from Hamilton’s side.
“Maybe he was feeling guilty,” Anthony Hamilton said. “I never asked for the gift but he did propose to give me one.”
In spite of making that commitment, according to Eurosport, Hamilton did not pay his father the money. The seven-time World Champion withdrew the offer, but Anthony did not go ‘money grabbing’ from his son.
“It is not my place to go money-grabbing to my son,” he continued. “It’s not my business. He makes his own decisions.”
He also stated that he never wanted to rely on Hamilton’s F1 career for himself. Anthony wanted to make his own company successful before getting his son into Formula 1.
“It was important for me to be successful with my own company before Lewis got into Formula One because I never wanted to rely on him for money,” the 37-year-old’s father said.
