Lewis Hamilton has signed a three-year deal with Mercedes
Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton has been tearing it up this season as Nico Rosberg’s teammate with Mercedes, and that legend won’t be coming to an end any time soon. As expected, Hamilton inked a deal to stay with Mercedes through 2018, putting him in the driver’s seat on the winning team for at least another 3 years.
Hamilton won’t come cheap for Mercedes. He’s commanding $32 million a year in base pay, but with bonuses that depend on his performance, he could surpass $45 million a year. That might not quite put Lewis Hamilton at boxer Floyd Mayweather’s level of pay (Mayweather got $200 million from his recent fight with Manny Pacquiao), but even so, Hamilton is still one of the highest paid athletes in the world.
Lewis Hamilton (right) sits beside teammate Nico Rosberg (left)
It’s no surprise that the kid can command such a high salary. Thirty-year-old Hamilton has won 15 races out of just 43 since joining Mercedes in 2013 and is kicking butt in the 2015 Formula 1 series, with three first place finishes and two second place finishes in only five races. (He took first at Bahrain, China, and Australia, and second at Malaysia and Spain.)
“Mercedes is my home and I couldn’t be happier to be staying here for another three years,” Hamilton said. “The Mercedes car I am driving right now is the best I have ever had in my career; it’s just so much fun to be out there every weekend, on the limit and fighting to win at every track.”
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