Impressed by Lewis Hamilton when he was 13, Richard Hopkins placed bets on the Briton in 1998, giving him a fortune 10 years later.
Way before his F1 career, Lewis Hamilton was always in the limelight. Everyone was aware that a prodigy was soon going to step into F1. But, a fan of Hamilton saw his actual calibre before anyone.
In 1998, Richard Hopkins, who saw Hamilton usually at the age of 13 competing in karts, was so impressed that he was ready to make a financial leap. Seeing Hamilton competing against his son Evan, Hopkins was sure that the former would be a world champion.
In 1998, Hopkins placed a $227 bet on Hamilton winning his first race by the age of 23, which had the odds of 200/1. Nine years later, the young 22-year-old rookie gave him that success by winning his first race in Canada.
While Hamilton took away the trophy, Hopkins took $45,450 to his home. Around the same time, the firm believer of Hamilton placed another bet of $113 that the young McLaren driver would win the championship before the age of 25. The odds were 500/1 back then.
In 2008, at the age of 23, after the suspenseful Brazilian GP fight between Felipe Massa and Hamilton, the latter sealed the championship by one point at the final moment.
It made Hopkins win $56,813, but it gave him some nervous moments, as he could have lost all his money. “I was trying not to watch, and I was practically hiding behind the sofa. To be honest, I thought he had blown it,” said Hopkins on the 2008 championship thriller.
Too much faith in Lewis Hamilton paid off
Hopkins had so much faith in his son’s rival that he placed another bet, saying Hamilton would achieve both above-mentioned feats. He placed a $56 bet on which had 1500/1 odds.
Thus, making Hopkins win $85,200 more. So, in total, he amassed over $187,463. Surely after seeing this figure, he must have praised himself for spotting and understanding his potential of Hamilton so efficiently.
“I’ve known Lewis from his early days, and it was easy to see he had an obvious driving ability, coupled with a fantastic attitude to racing. I just had a hunch he would go on to bigger and better things,” said Hopkins.
Now, 24 years after first placing the bet, Hamilton is now the seven-time-world champion. Wonder what would have happened if Hopkins had made a bet on the Mercedes star one day, equalizing Michael Schumacher’s championship tally.
Also read: Lewis Hamilton had four months of intense talks to finalise $115 Million contract with Mercedes
