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Hamilton Promised McLaren LM on 3rd World Title

Of course winning the F1 title while becoming the youngest driver ever to do so in the history of the sport is breathtaking enough. But so is the reward that comes with it. And we're not talking about money here, but about the famous bet between Lewis Hamilton and McLaren boss Ron Dennis (well, maybe more of an agreement) concerning the 2008 drivers' title.

Earlier this year, several reports within the motorsport media around the world, as well as some paddock talk, gave us an inside on how Dennis tried to motivate his protege to win a maiden world title in Formula 1. If succeeding, Hamilton was promised a stunning piece of machinery, the quite-rare McLaren LM model worth no less than $8 million.

We found that hard to believe at the time, but it now seems that such an arrangement has been settled. A single championship title was not enough for it to become functional, so Dennis promised the model to Hamilton in exchange of 3 world titles. Although we're not sure if that includes constructors' titles as well, the McLaren LM seems to worth the try.

“At least I don't have to give it away for a couple of years but it will be a small price to pay for three championships,” admitted Dennis after the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday. He was backed by Hamilton himself, who admitted he will be having the LM in mind for the upcoming seasons in order to boost his motivation even more: “I will definitely work as hard as I can to get to number three.”

One might wonder if an $8 million almost-unique supercar is not too much for a driver who still has a lot to show in Formula 1. Well, let's do the math! Before Hamilton, McLaren had gone 7 years without winning a single world title, drivers' or constructors'. After Hamilton stepped in in 2007, the British outfit battled Ferrari for the title in the first year – hadn't it been for the spygate scandal, they would have probably wrapped it up in 2007 – and won the drivers' crown the next. Hamilton won no less than 8 races and scored 207 points (most than any driver before) in only 2 years.
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