Hamilton signs bumper new deal

LEWIS HAMILTON is believed to have become one of Britain’s highest-paid sportsmen after signing a new multi-million pound contract with McLaren yesterday.

The five-year deal is believed to be worth £10m per year, or £200,000 per week – a bumper pay packet that eclipses the country’s Premier League stars.

Only David Beckham, whose five-year contract with LA Galaxy was rumoured to be £128m over its duration, can claim to earn more than Hamilton.

Although McLaren have not released any financial details, their willingness to adequately reward Hamilton following a phenomenal debut year has never been in question.

The 23-year-old came within a point of winning the world title, only to lose out in the final grand prix of the campaign in Brazil.

Hamilton, though, won four races and broke every rookie record in the Formula One history books, ensuring it would be only a matter of when, and not if, McLaren would offer a new deal. With the contract not due to expire until 2012, should Hamilton remain with the team up until that time, it would mean his partnership with McLaren will stretch to 15 years.

Hamilton was initially signed up a decade ago at the age of 13 and was supported through various karting and junior formulae en route to his breakthrough into Formula One.

Such is his affinity with McLaren, he freely concedes he “could easily drive for this team for the whole of my Formula One career”.

He added: “I am with the right team to compete for race wins and both the drivers’ and constructors’ world championships in the future. We will have a lot of challenges ahead, but I am 100% positive I am with the people to take them on.

“The first of those challenges is the 2008 season. We have 57 days to go until the lights go out on the grid at Albert Park (for the Australian Grand Prix). We are motivated to make the most of this time and arrive in Melbourne with a competitive car.”

McLaren F1 CEO Martin Whitmarsh has revealed negotiations on the new deal only started with Hamilton’s manager, father Anthony, following the launch of the 2008 car 11 days ago in Stuttgart.

They were swiftly concluded, much to the delight of team boss Ron Dennis who has hailed Hamilton as “an exceptional human being”.

Dennis added: “Given Lewis’ performances over the course of 2007, it is clear improved financial terms were fully deserved and this formed part of the friendly negotiations with Anthony. This announcement will take the length of our relationship with Lewis to a total of 15 years.

“We believe it is among the longest running associations between a sportsman and a team in the history of sport, particularly motorsport. This is a great achievement for everyone involved, including Anthony.

“Lewis is an exceptional human being, on both a personal and professional level, and will continue to be a credit to this team. We are looking forward to the new season, and we all expect that, with Heikki (Kovalainen) coming on board to partner Lewis, we will have a very competitive year.”

Despite last season’s notorious problems when the team were fined £50m for being in unlawful possession of Ferrari secrets, Anthony Hamilton insisted McLaren “provide the best opportunity for his (Lewis’) career in the long term”.

He added: “It is an amazing thing to have been signed by McLaren and Mercedes-Benz back in 1998 at the age of 13, and to be given an opportunity to achieve a better life than one would ever have dreamed could happen. It is also a fantastic feeling to have put all our faith and belief into the team, and here we are today in a great partnership and our relationship even stronger.”