Autosport Plus

Is Hamilton really worth £40million?

After Lewis Hamilton's new two-year deal at Mercedes was announced ahead of last weekend's German Grand Prix, reports emerged that it would be worth up to £40million to the four-time world champion. But is any driver worth that much cash?

Nobody can objectively be worth £40million, not in a world where so many have next to nothing. But the widely reported figure for the potential value, including bonuses, of Lewis Hamilton's new Mercedes contract raises the question of whether a racing driver can really be worth what many would call an obscene sum of money.

The world is clearly not objective, though, so this is always going to be a largely subjective debate. But once we accept that we live in a global society of enormous inequality and set aside the ethical arguments on the rights and wrongs of that, the question then moves on to what the driver can contribute to a team for that spend.