Hamilton earns $ 4 M in 2007

[raindancer]

  Lewis Hamilton has been granted a pay-rise after reaching the middle of the 2007 season as F1's championship leader.


The impressive and ultra-consistent British rookie started the season with a modest retainer of about (US) $400,000 and a $10,000 per point bonus.


As of the British grand prix, then, he made his first million.


According to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, however, a clause in his contract was triggered at Silverstone, the ninth round of the season.


As he passed the half-way point of 2007 at the very top of the drivers' world championship, Hamilton automatically qualified for a cool $2.3m bonus.


If he scores another 50 points in the remaining eight races this year, Hamilton's initially paltry salary will have ballooned to nearly $4m -- disregarding any more contractual bonuses for possibly winning the title.

[johnbull]

Good for him. He deserved every bit of it.

[FW14B]

Definitely, he has raced really well and I think he deserves to receive pay rises for this. 

[Mike_Grimsby]

Has he done that well? If you measure his performances against the likes of Alonso and Raikkonen then Hamilton's debut season does appear to be one of remarkable success, but sadly, no matter how good he is, the appearance of Lewis on consecutive podiums can be linked to the fact that only one other team out there is capable of competing with the McLaren.

Would Hamilton be leading the championship/have been on the podium after each race, say, if the BMW's were as fast as the lead two?

Put Rosberg in a car as fast as the Ferrari/McLaren.........

[johnbull]

Using your argument, the same can be said about Michael Schumacher. Even more so in fact.

He was racing with one of only 2 "superior" cars at the time, and the other wasn't allowed to beat him.

At least Hamilton has 3 competitive cars with 3 ultra competitive drivers to contend with and they're all doing their utmost to beat him.

[Mike_Grimsby]

I don't agree, John. Whilst Hamilton has only really had to fight his team mate + two Ferrari drivers, he's also had some really good luck virtually handing him podiums.

Australia - Massa starts P22 because of engine change.
Malaysia - Raikkonen hampered by weakened engine and running reduced revs as a result.
Spain - Raikkonen retires after lap 9 with electrical problem.
Monaco - Raikkonen guilty of incredible error putting him 16th on grid.
Canada - Alonso drive through penalty and Massa black flagged.
US - McLaren clear performance advantage.
France - Engine problem for Alonso means no time set in Q3 (10th on grid).

In almost every race, Hamilton has only had to keep the car on track to end up on the podium.

Now take a look at Scumacher's first championship win - 1994. Team mate, Verstappen, was beaten by two Williams' (three if you include Mansell), two McLaren's, two Ferrari's and a Jordan. The Benetton wasn't THAT* superior.

(*As in Ferrari & McLaren versus the rest - 2007).

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying Hamilton is merely lucky or average, but some of the hype is ridiculous. Hamilton is mixing it in amongst the top four. But that could easily become 6-8 if other drivers had the equipment that Lewis has at his disposal.

Put another four McLaren's in the field with Heidfeld, Kubica, Rosberg & A.N. Other. Would Hamilton look SO good then?

[raindancer]

I have to agree with Mike here. Hamilton is good, damn good and he has matched Alonso's pace. But so could have others particularly  Rosberg. Wonder how Hamilton would have fared in the middle of the pack with the chaos associated with starts and having to race very hard at least for the first two laps.

[FW14B]

I think when drivers in middle ranking teams earn more than a guy in a front row team, him earning $4m is not really a problem.  His driving has shown he deserves to be in a front running team.  Sure, he has had luck, but conversely he hasn't made any mistakes.  Rosberg, as much as I like him, did make mistakes in his debut season.  Even his first race with that fastest lap, he made contact in the first lap that put him out of contention for a better finish.  Lewis has been consistently fast.