Silver star turns purple.
The day Ferrari revealed that Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time world champion, was becoming a member of its System 1 crew for 2025, its New York Inventory Alternate worth rose over 10%, including $7 billion to its web value. This mirrored the mighty scale of one of many largest coups in F1 historical past, as the game gears as much as rejoice its seventy fifth season.
The swoop was personally orchestrated by Ferrari’s president John Elkann, chosen inheritor of his maternal grandfather, the late Fiat titan Gianni Agnelli. It’s value noting the intriguing inner political scenario right here, because the Agnelli household’s belief owns round 23% of Ferrari, with Piero Ferrari (son of founder Enzo) just lately making a succession plan for his daughter Antonella and grandsons Enzo Mattioli Ferrari and Piero Galassi Ferrari. Piero is the second largest Ferrari shareholder at round 10%.
Elkann and Ferrari’s F1 crew principal Frederic Vasseur (in whose groups Hamilton starred throughout junior days) performed important roles in making this deal occur. It’s reportedly value as much as $100 million per yr for the Briton, who turns 40 earlier than he steps foot inside its scarlet race automotive. The Cavallino Rampante, or Prancing Horse, has at the least been within the battle for the F1 constructors’ championship in 2024 – a title it hadn’t claimed since 2008. Coincidentally, that was the identical yr as Hamilton’s first drivers’ title with McLaren…
Quick ahead to 2025, and Hamilton has received one other six championships with Mercedes and been knighted by the British royal household. His world sporting profile – comparable with fellow gigastars Tiger Woods and LeBron James – has appealed to a far broader viewers than F1 followers, turning into a outstanding activist for elevated variety and social justice. His pursuits in trend and music have additionally elevated his affect exterior of the cockpit, and his philanthropism and charity work imply Ferrari just isn’t solely getting one of many best F1 drivers of all time, however a real icon with mass attraction.
It received’t have escaped Ferrari’s discover that luxurious section rival Lamborghini achieved over 10,000 world gross sales final yr, the primary time within the model’s 60-year historical past that it’s damaged into 5 figures. With a 3rd of these gross sales coming in the US, Lamborghini’s demographic has shifted in the direction of a youthful buyer base; some predict that almost all of its 2025 clients will probably be below 40. In having a champion for variety, and the one ever Black F1 driver with a serious U.S. following, you may see why Ferrari needs to be represented by a middle-aged cultural phenomenon to seize a bit of that motion.
Hamilton additionally has a powerful Ferrari-owning historical past, shopping for a 599 GTO in 2010, earlier than changing it with a 599 SA Aperta. His assortment contains each a LaFerrari, during which he was famously noticed driving round Beverley Hills with Justin Bieber, and an unimaginable LaFerrari Aperta.
Ferrari truly signed Hamilton earlier than the 2024 marketing campaign had even began, pouncing on an exit clause that occurred in the course of the Mercedes driver’s two-year contract to entice him to Italy. “The chance simply popped up,” Hamilton admitted in a BBC podcast. “I didn’t have a whole lot of time to suppose, and I needed to simply go together with my intestine feeling. I made a decision to take the chance.”
The hype for the 2025 F1 season will probably be off the dimensions, and Hamilton acknowledged: “I really feel extremely lucky, after reaching issues with Mercedes that I might solely have dreamed of as a child, that I now have the possibility to fulfil one other childhood dream: Driving in Ferrari purple.”
Talking on the Trento Sports activities Pageant, Vasseur claimed “it was not that troublesome to persuade Lewis” to affix Ferrari. “I do not forget that in 2005 we have been collectively (in System 3),” Vasseur added. “On the time he was tied to McLaren-Mercedes, however he already had in thoughts that eventually he would go to Ferrari.”
Elkann instructed Corriere dello Sport: “[Hamilton] needs to win his eighth title, Ferrari needs to win and with Lewis they’re stronger. He doesn’t come to Ferrari to take pleasure in his retirement and it’s essential to have motivated individuals round, who need to win.”
Earlier than he exploded onto the F1 scene with McLaren-Mercedes in 2007, Hamilton used to play pc video games as Michael Schumacher, with whom he’s tied on a document seven titles, as a result of Lewis puzzled what it might really feel wish to be “surrounded by purple”.
Whereas his driving abilities are undoubted, no different driver can boast three figures for Grand Prix victories, there’s extra to this accord than signing Hamilton to increase his successful document. Like Schumacher’s F1 return with Mercedes in 2010, this can be a multi-faceted deal that ensures a contemporary mixture of the Ferrari and Hamilton manufacturers will seize the world’s consideration.
This text appeared in our January 2025 Challenge.
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