42 F1 RACING DECEMBER 2019
as someone who moved seamlessly from sports
entertainment to pure entertainment.
The cumulative Instagram network for
Hamilton’s top 20 friends, collaborators and
associates is a spectacular 950 million people.
Throw in those following the brands he is associated
with and the Hamilton network on Instagram
alone represents a billion followers. No wonder
companies are lining up to work with him...
One of the key reasons behind Hamilton’s success
on social media is that his posts are personal and
authentic. Those which are officially sponsored or
promoted are marked as such, but his willingness to
share photographs and videos from his life beyond
Formula 1 really hits the mark with fans. The
content that he posts is rich and varied.
His dogs Roscoe and Coco are as popular with the
fans as they are with Hamilton himself, but his love
for high fashion, music, supercars and motorcycles
features strongly. So too his personal interests in
environmental awareness, sustainability, veganism,
animal welfare and children’s charities. The content
comes across as heart-felt and genuine.
As is the way with social media thetrolls are never
far away, butthe former victim of schoolboy bullying
is a veteranwhen itcomes to dismissingnegativity.
When his plant-based diet spurred much online
comment, Hamilton’s response wasto open a vegan
burger restaurant in London’s fashionable Mayfair.
This is the result of a collaborationwith h ospitality
company The Cream Group and Italian investor
Tommaso Chiabra, one ofthe leading backers of
meat-substitute company Beyond Meat. It plays
perfectly to Hamilton’s philosophy of answering
his critics throughpositive action.
Managing this stellar career and burgeoning
interests beyondFormula 1 is no mean feat, and
Hamilton controls his own destiny through the
London-based management company Project
- Initially managed byfather Anthony, who
guided him from karting to Formula 1, Hamilton
then signed afour-year deal withentertainment
impresario Simon Fuller’s XIX Group. At the end of
2014 Lewis moved into the arms of the Los Angeles-
based Endeavour Group, which was created
following the $2.4 billion takeover of the legendary
IMG sports and media companyby William Morris
Endeavour. That deal ran its course.
Now he’s in full control of his career and business
destiny, Hamilton’s next moves willbe watched
with interest. A contract renewal with Mercedes
beckons for 2021, with observers expecting Lewis
to sign a two-year or two-plus-one extension unless
lured elsewhere. Beyond that, thewor lds of fashion
and music seem set to feature strongly alongside
business investments, as well as continuing to act as
global brand ambassador for companies eager totap
into the profile ofFormula 1’s dominant personality.
When Hamilton stepped on board hisMercedes
W10 to commence testing ahead of this year’s world
championship he had outlived his hero Ayrton
Senna by a day. Michael Schumacher, whoseever y
record is being dismantled by Hamilton’s ongoing
achievements, was robbed of a happy retirement
as a result of that fateful skiing accident in 2013.
For all their achievements on the race track, we
never got to see what thefuture held for Senna
or Schumacher post-F1.
With career earningsset to approach $500
million, Hamilton is thus onthe threshold of having
not only the most successful careerin Fo rmula 1
history– whether measuredby results,income
or globalprofile – but als o of buildingan empire
beyondthe sport the like of which has never been
seen before. He is already on top ofthe world, but
the phenomenon thatis Lewis Hamilton is a story
with many chaptersstill left to run.
“Nowhe’sinfullcontrolofhiscareer
andbusinessdestiny, Hamilton’s
nextmo veswillbewatched
withinterest”
42 F1 RACING DECEMBER 2019
as someone who moved seamlessly from sports
entertainment to pure entertainment.
The cumulative Instagram network for
Hamilton’s top 20 friends, collaborators and
associates is a spectacular 950 million people.
Throw in those following the brands he is associated
with and the Hamilton network on Instagram
alone represents a billion followers. No wonder
companies are lining up to work with him...
One of the key reasons behind Hamilton’s success
on social media is that his posts are personal and
authentic. Those which are officially sponsored or
promoted are marked as such, but his willingness to
share photographs and videos from his life beyond
Formula 1 really hits the mark with fans. The
content that he posts is rich and varied.
His dogs Roscoe and Coco are as popular with the
fans as they are with Hamilton himself, but his love
for high fashion, music, supercars and motorcycles
features strongly. So too his personal interests in
environmental awareness, sustainability, veganism,
animal welfare and children’s charities. The content
comes across as heart-felt and genuine.
As is the way with social media thetrolls are never
far away, butthe former victim of schoolboy bullying
is a veteranwhen itcomes to dismissingnegativity.
When his plant-based diet spurred much online
comment, Hamilton’s response wasto open a vegan
burger restaurant in London’s fashionable Mayfair.
This is the result of a collaborationwith h ospitality
company The Cream Group and Italian investor
Tommaso Chiabra, one ofthe leading backers of
meat-substitute company Beyond Meat. It plays
perfectly to Hamilton’s philosophy of answering
his critics throughpositive action.
Managing this stellar career and burgeoning
interests beyondFormula 1 is no mean feat, and
Hamilton controls his own destiny through the
London-based management company Project
- Initially managed byfather Anthony, who
guided him from karting to Formula 1, Hamilton
then signed afour-year deal withentertainment
impresario Simon Fuller’s XIX Group. At the end of
2014 Lewis moved into the arms of the Los Angeles-
based Endeavour Group, which was created
following the $2.4 billion takeover of the legendary
IMG sports and media companyby William Morris
Endeavour. That deal ran its course.
Now he’s in full control of his career and business
destiny, Hamilton’s next moves willbe watched
with interest. A contract renewal with Mercedes
beckons for 2021, with observers expecting Lewis
to sign a two-year or two-plus-one extension unless
lured elsewhere. Beyond that, thewor lds of fashion
and music seem set to feature strongly alongside
business investments, as well as continuing to act as
global brand ambassador for companies eager totap
into the profile ofFormula 1’s dominant personality.
When Hamilton stepped on board hisMercedes
W10 to commence testing ahead of this year’s world
championship he had outlived his hero Ayrton
Senna by a day. Michael Schumacher, whoseever y
record is being dismantled by Hamilton’s ongoing
achievements, was robbed of a happy retirement
as a result of that fateful skiing accident in 2013.
For all their achievements on the race track, we
never got to see what thefuture held for Senna
or Schumacher post-F1.
With career earningsset to approach $500
million, Hamilton is thus onthe threshold of having
not only the most successful careerin Fo rmula 1
history– whether measuredby results,income
or globalprofile – but als o of buildingan empire
beyondthe sport the like of which has never been
seen before. He is already on top ofthe world, but
the phenomenon thatis Lewis Hamilton is a story
with many chaptersstill left to run.
“Nowhe’sinfullcontrolofhiscareer
andbusinessdestiny, Hamilton’s
nextmo veswillbewatched
withinterest”
