Lewis Hamilton once earned a man a whopping $185,000 upon winning his first-ever F1 world championship. While the British driver didn’t hand over the money personally, his win gave him a staggering amount of money according to BBC.
Hamilton‘s rise to the top of Formula 1 has been nothing short of sensational. The British driver debuted in the sport in the year 2007 with McLaren and it didn’t take him long to challenge his legendary teammate Fernando Alonso.
Alonso, who was the defending champion and arrived at the McLaren after winning back-to-back championships with Renault in 2007, faced stiff competition from a young Hamilton. Despite being in his rookie season, Hamilton was involved in a title fight, that went right down to the wire. In the end, he finished second.
After a lot of drama and anticipation, the Stevenage-born driver finally managed to grab his first world championship in 2008.
By overtaking Jarno Trulli of Toyota at the last minute in Interlagos, Hamilton broke the heart of Felipe Massa, and of course, thousands of Brazilians. Of course, there were fans who loved that fact that Hamilton won the title. One fan, however, was elated in particular.
$185,000 for Lewis Hamilton winning his maiden title
In 2012, two men placed a bet on Hamilton. One fan predicted that he would win the title before he turned 23, whereas the other put his money on him winning when he’s 25.
Another F1 title battle for the ages from 2008 – as @LewisHamilton clinches his first championship on the last lap of the season 😮🏆#F1 #HistoryAwaits pic.twitter.com/dAqLdtuYmP
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 3, 2021
The two bets were on 40/1 and 150/1 odds. However, the first bet was lost as the Briton just narrowly lost out to Kimi Raikkonen in 2007. Even though he was 23 when he won his first championship, it was not before.
But, on the bright side, the man who put the long-term bet on Hamilton’s championship win before 25, walked away with $185,000 [£150,000] as per Ladbrokes.
Who are the other sports stars who helped to earn money similarly?
Similar to Lewis Hamilton and his $185,000 bet, there are multiple examples of sports stars helping people win money based on the long-term bets placed on them.
A bet placed on Wimbledon winner Roger Federer once earned a man $123,000 [£100,000]. The same kind of bet was placed on Andy Murray too.
All in all, these long-term bets provided enormous money to the winners. The craze of these kinds of bets has increased so much that people have been betting on bizarre things like their children’s success, as well as on politicians’ reach.
