If you wanted to gauge the significance of the news that Lewis Hamilton will be a Ferrari driver in 2025, then look no further than the Italian car company’s stock price. On the January 31 it was trading at $346. One day later it had skyrocketed to $384. A rise of almost 10% which, given the value of the Ferrari brand, is equivalent to an overnight increase of $7bn…
Let’s assume Hamilton’s new salary is the largest ever seen in F1 (it’s outside the budget cap, remember). Details are sketchy, but even if it’s as high as £80 millon a year (including bonuses) then with the share price rise, it’s a bargain. Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari is arguably the most remarkable, unexpected and biggest driver signing in the seven-decade history of Formula 1. But how did we get here?
The sequence of events
The man who signs the cheques for Ferrari today is 47-year-old John Elkann. The current chairman of the Prancing Horse is a descendent of Giovanni
