Lewis Hamilton leaves McLaren and signs £60m deal to join F1 rival Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton has cut ties with his
boyhood team McLaren - pocketing a deal worth up to £60million in a move
to the rival Mercedes Formula One team.
The British racing superstar will replace the retiring legend Michael Schumacher next season in a deal that will make him one of the sport's richest stars.
It will bring to an end the Briton’s 14-year association with McLaren, the team who sponsored him from when he was a 13-year-old karting prodigy.
Hamilton had spent weeks denying that he was leaving after news broke last month that he was considering a move away.
It should earn him £45 million until 2016 plus a possible extra £15 million in bonuses.
McLaren, team principal Martin Whitmarsh paid tribute to the departing Hamilton.
He said: 'It’s entirely appropriate that I should take this opportunity to pass on our thanks to Lewis. He wrote a huge chapter of his life and career with us, and was, and always will be, a fine member of an exclusive club: the McLaren world champions’ club.'
McLaren have announced that Sauber driver Sergio Perez, 22, will replace Hamilton at the British outfit next season.
The
Mexican, a member of the Ferrari driver academy, said: 'I’m thrilled and
delighted to have become a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver.
'The McLaren name is one of the greatest in the history of Formula 1. For more than 40 years McLaren has been a team that every racing driver has aspired to drive for – I was brought up on the great stories of Ayrton Senna’s many world championship triumphs for McLaren – and I’m truly honoured that they’ve chosen me to partner Jenson from 2013 onwards,' he said.
Hamilton’s critics will say he is leaving for money but it is understood the offers on the table were similar. His basic Mercedes salary of around £15m — the same figure he is on at McLaren — will maintain his status as one of the grid’s top earners alongside Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and possibly Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel.
That said, Mercedes will offer greater freedom than McLaren in letting Hamilton’s management company, Simon Fuller’s XIX Entertainment, to strike personal endorsements for their man.
More important than money — and
Hamilton is known to be cautious with his finances — is his desire to
improve on a return of one title in five completed seasons, a
disappointing statistic for a driver who envisaged himself as a serial
champion on his much-heralded arrival in Formula One.
The will-he-won’t-he saga has captivated the sport for months but in the end the attraction of a fresh start, away from a team where he has always been treated with parental care, appears to have been too hard for the 27-year-old to resist.
The other governing factor was his desire for a championship-winning car. Whitmarsh always claimed that staying put represented the best chance of success, but the evidence for that assertion is patchy: though they are regular race winners, McLaren have won just a single drivers’ title since 1999.
The question is whether Mercedes, who have support at board level in Germany but are run from Brackley, Northamptonshire, are better equipped to deliver. They have only been back in the sport as manufacturers since 2010, though in their previous guise as Brawn won the title through Jenson Button.
Ross Brawn, the engineering
svengali behind all seven of Schumacher’s titles, remains team
principal and his presence is sure to have been a major lure for
Hamilton with significant changes to the engine regulations due for the
2014 season.
Brawn exploited a previous revamping of the technical blueprint in 2009, allowing Hamilton’s McLaren team-mate Button to waltz to his championship success. With Mercedes as engine makers, Brawn is well placed to conjure another trick.
Conversely, McLaren, who get their engines free from Mercedes as part of a long-term association, will have to pay for their supply from next year. That will put a strain on their budget.
Mercedes
have won one race this season to McLaren’s five but it is probable that
Hamilton would extract more from even this existing car than the
43-year-old Schumacher and his team-mate Nico Rosberg.
Hamilton is close to Norbert Haug, Mercedes’ head of motor sport, who often acted as an avuncular supporter of the young Briton back when the German manufacturers were in full partnership with McLaren.
As for Schumacher, he has been a shadow of his formerly dominant self since coming out of his first retirement in 2010. He has managed just one podium, this year in Valencia.
The British racing superstar will replace the retiring legend Michael Schumacher next season in a deal that will make him one of the sport's richest stars.
It will bring to an end the Briton’s 14-year association with McLaren, the team who sponsored him from when he was a 13-year-old karting prodigy.
Shake-up: After more than a decade at McLaren, Lewis Hamilton is moving to Mercedes in a £60m deal over three years
It should earn him £45 million until 2016 plus a possible extra £15 million in bonuses.
McLaren, team principal Martin Whitmarsh paid tribute to the departing Hamilton.
He said: 'It’s entirely appropriate that I should take this opportunity to pass on our thanks to Lewis. He wrote a huge chapter of his life and career with us, and was, and always will be, a fine member of an exclusive club: the McLaren world champions’ club.'
McLaren have announced that Sauber driver Sergio Perez, 22, will replace Hamilton at the British outfit next season.
Stars: Hamilton's rise to sporting fame coincided with his on-off relationship with Pussycat Doll singer Nicole Scherzinger
Champion: Lewis Hamilton embraces his brother
Nicholas, centre and Nicole when he won the Formula One world drivers'
championship in 2008
'The McLaren name is one of the greatest in the history of Formula 1. For more than 40 years McLaren has been a team that every racing driver has aspired to drive for – I was brought up on the great stories of Ayrton Senna’s many world championship triumphs for McLaren – and I’m truly honoured that they’ve chosen me to partner Jenson from 2013 onwards,' he said.
Hamilton’s critics will say he is leaving for money but it is understood the offers on the table were similar. His basic Mercedes salary of around £15m — the same figure he is on at McLaren — will maintain his status as one of the grid’s top earners alongside Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and possibly Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel.
That said, Mercedes will offer greater freedom than McLaren in letting Hamilton’s management company, Simon Fuller’s XIX Entertainment, to strike personal endorsements for their man.
Old guard: Lewis will be replacing Michael Schumacher - who is expected to announce his retirement from the sport today
The will-he-won’t-he saga has captivated the sport for months but in the end the attraction of a fresh start, away from a team where he has always been treated with parental care, appears to have been too hard for the 27-year-old to resist.
The other governing factor was his desire for a championship-winning car. Whitmarsh always claimed that staying put represented the best chance of success, but the evidence for that assertion is patchy: though they are regular race winners, McLaren have won just a single drivers’ title since 1999.
The question is whether Mercedes, who have support at board level in Germany but are run from Brackley, Northamptonshire, are better equipped to deliver. They have only been back in the sport as manufacturers since 2010, though in their previous guise as Brawn won the title through Jenson Button.
Disappointing: After his 2008 title win he has failed to secure another - a major reason why he is said to have moved on
Brawn exploited a previous revamping of the technical blueprint in 2009, allowing Hamilton’s McLaren team-mate Button to waltz to his championship success. With Mercedes as engine makers, Brawn is well placed to conjure another trick.
Conversely, McLaren, who get their engines free from Mercedes as part of a long-term association, will have to pay for their supply from next year. That will put a strain on their budget.
New guy: Lewis Hamilton, left, celebrates on the podium with Sauber driver Sergio Perez, of Mexico, who is set to join McLaren
Hamilton is close to Norbert Haug, Mercedes’ head of motor sport, who often acted as an avuncular supporter of the young Briton back when the German manufacturers were in full partnership with McLaren.
As for Schumacher, he has been a shadow of his formerly dominant self since coming out of his first retirement in 2010. He has managed just one podium, this year in Valencia.
评论
发表评论