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Ferrari’s Naive $48,000,000 Bet To Lure Lewis Hamilton Exposed As Billionaire Toto Wolff’s Financial Prowess Outsmarts the Italian Giants

Published 06/11/2023, 5:15 AM EDT

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One of the greatest drivers to ever compete in the pinnacle of motorsport is unquestionably Sir Lewis Hamilton. And as the maestro enters his twilight years, the subject of whether he would renew his contract with Mercedes has been a hot topic for the past few months. There were numerous rumors that Lewis Hamilton had an intimate conversation with Ferrari president John Elkann and was presented with an astounding $48 million deal to join the Maranello-based team. The Italian Giants, however, have been vanquished by the financial savvy of billionaire Toto Wolff.

This year Lewis Hamilton was fully committed to winning his eighth world championship, which would “statistically” make him the best F1 driver. However, Mercedes’ dismal performance has given way to a lot of speculation. The first of these is if the iconic driver wants to stay with the Silver Arrows given that his contract is set to expire when the curtains fall at the end of this season.

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In the midst of all of this, speculation intensified when it was revealed that the Italian team was prepared to offer Hamilton an enormous amount of money in exchange for his services.
Although Lewis Hamilton would never have considered money when considering a switch, his love of Ayrton Senna, who was supposed to drive for Ferrari, in 1995 and the fact that the Hamilton family had a strong desire to see their son drive for Ferrari has left many of us seriously questioning whether Hamilton is open for a switch?

In actuality, Toto Wolff and Co. have outsmarted the Maranello-based team, According to Motorsports Total, the point is that although Ferrari was willing to give Hamilton $48 million, the seven-time champion already makes more money at Mercedes. Besides, the British man has the most freedom under the terms of his current contract in managing his commercial image, in contrast to how Ferrari typically handles drivers’ image rights for corporate reasons. Subsequently, when the rumors were specifically cleared up by asking both parties, both sides rejected holding any such discussions.

After the Spanish GP, we overheard Hamilton hinting at potential contract extension talks with Toto Wolff. The 38-year-old has handled all of his contract negotiations alone throughout the years. The seven-time champion, though, has opted to keep quiet and let the team handle the talk when it comes to discussing a new contract with Mercedes this time around. But why?

Why does Lewis Hamilton want his team to discuss contract extension talks with Toto Wolff?

The current contract that Lewis Hamilton signed in 2020 was for three years and will finish at the conclusion of the 2023 season. Additionally, the 38-year-old is eager to extend his deal with the Silver Arrows. We got a clue of that at the Spanish GP when the seven-time champion said he will be meeting with Toto and “getting something done” after earlier assertions from both Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton that a contract extension will be “signed over coffee.”

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via Reuters

However, over the years, Hamilton himself has handled all the contract negotiations but now when asked by Sky Sports F1 earlier why he thought the management team should lead the negotiations this time around, the seven-time champion replied, “Having a team focus on that so I can just do my job is a much better position than I was in before because I remember I used to do negotiations on my own and it was very stressful, so I don’t have to do that anymore.”

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He added, “This is the first time that I’ve not been negotiating myself. I have a great team in the background doing all the work so I can focus on the job at hand.”

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WATCH THIS STORY: With the Rumored $49 Million Offer, Will Lewis Hamilton Take the Gamble on Ferrari?

Do you believe that Lewis Hamilton’s trust in Mercedes will revive the glory years of both groups?

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Written by:

Aditya Srivastava

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Aditya Srivastava is an F1 writer at EssentiallySports with over two years of writing experience. He developed a keen interest in the sport after the unforgettable Abu Dhabi 2021 race. As a graduate of a premier institute, Aditya is committed to producing high-quality content that is engaging, informative, and accurate.
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Edited by:

Varunkumaar Chelladurai