Photo: Instagram / Lewis Hamilton
With his Formula 1 career presumably reaching its golden years, the 37-year-old Brit must be beginning to think about the things that will keep him busy after he retires from the competition that built his fame after winning it a joint-record seven times.
While not this season, apparently, where he currently sits in sixth place 152 points behind the leader Max Verstappen (and 30 points behind his much younger teammate George Russell), Hamilton still has a chance to become Formula 1's all-time most decorated driver, a position he currently shares with Germany's great, Michael Schumacher. All he needs to do is win one more title to bring his tally to eight, but that's proving to be a lot easier said than done at the moment.
However, race driving doesn't seem to be the only sport Lewis Hamilton is willing to dedicate his time and, most importantly, money to. The knighted British driver is already a co-owner of NFL's Denver Broncos so, making a move for a soccer team in his native England shouldn't really come as that great of a surprise.
It's not just any third-division team we're talking about here, but actually the country's most famous name: Manchester United Football Club. Like Hamilton, the legendary club isn't going through its best period right now. 2013 was the last year United won the Premier League (England's first division) and, not at all unrelated, it was also the year the club's manager for the previous 25 years, Sir Alex Ferguson retired. Since then, the team has had five different managers and, despite some limited, small-scale success, it never came close to the same level of performance fans had become accustomed to.
Even without much success on the pitch, Manchester United was still a big-enough brand to make money for its owners, the U.S.-based Glazer family, who are arguably the main reason behind the club's downfall. The family who also owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL team purchased Manchester United in 2005 via a hostile takeover and leveraged buyout, putting a big debt over the club that has continued to grow despite payments of more than a billion dollars over the years.
A combination of ever-growing fan discontent, constant protests, and diminishing revenues that have an impact over the Glazer brothers' dividends means there is much more talk about the family deciding to cash in on their asset and sell. Considering the Glazers didn't take one penny out of their own pockets to buy the club, have been taking hundreds of millions in dividends for the past 17 years, and should be able to sell United for roughly six billion GBP ($6.9 billion), that wouldn't be such a bad deal overall.
One of the possible buyers is Jim Ratcliffe, Britain's wealthiest man and owner of the INEOS Group - the main sponsor for Hamilton's Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team. Ratcliffe is a known Manchester United fan from childhood and, according to his own statements, the only reason he has never put in a bid for the club was because it was never up for sale.
Earlier this year, Sir Jim Ratcliffe attempted to buy London-based Chelsea Football Club following the controversy around its previous owner, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. His bid failed as U.S. businessman Todd Boehly became the new owner, but what's interesting about this is that Hamilton himself was actually involved in that bidding as well, only completely separately to Ratcliffe's attempts.
Asked about the possibility of joining an eventual bid for Manchester United together with the INEOS Group owner, Hamilton seemed a little bewildered but definitely left the door wide open.
“It’s the first time I’ve heard of it," he said after the Dutch Grand Prix. “I haven’t had time to catch up with Jim since I was in Namibia (during the mid-season break). I haven’t had a call from him asking if I want to be involved in that just yet, but I do want to get more and more involved in teams."
“But Jim’s part-boss and part-partner, I would say we’re more partners because we’re in this together and I hope in the future to do something with Jim and build with him, I don’t know when that’ll be or what that’ll be.”
The only thing missing from this becoming reality is the Glazer family actually wanting to sell. As things stand, despite the growing rumors and the whole maneuver making a lot of financial sense, there is no official word that a sale is inevitable. However, these things can very well happen behind closed doors so don't be surprised if you'll soon see Hamilton in the official seats at Old Trafford.
However, race driving doesn't seem to be the only sport Lewis Hamilton is willing to dedicate his time and, most importantly, money to. The knighted British driver is already a co-owner of NFL's Denver Broncos so, making a move for a soccer team in his native England shouldn't really come as that great of a surprise.
It's not just any third-division team we're talking about here, but actually the country's most famous name: Manchester United Football Club. Like Hamilton, the legendary club isn't going through its best period right now. 2013 was the last year United won the Premier League (England's first division) and, not at all unrelated, it was also the year the club's manager for the previous 25 years, Sir Alex Ferguson retired. Since then, the team has had five different managers and, despite some limited, small-scale success, it never came close to the same level of performance fans had become accustomed to.
Even without much success on the pitch, Manchester United was still a big-enough brand to make money for its owners, the U.S.-based Glazer family, who are arguably the main reason behind the club's downfall. The family who also owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL team purchased Manchester United in 2005 via a hostile takeover and leveraged buyout, putting a big debt over the club that has continued to grow despite payments of more than a billion dollars over the years.
A combination of ever-growing fan discontent, constant protests, and diminishing revenues that have an impact over the Glazer brothers' dividends means there is much more talk about the family deciding to cash in on their asset and sell. Considering the Glazers didn't take one penny out of their own pockets to buy the club, have been taking hundreds of millions in dividends for the past 17 years, and should be able to sell United for roughly six billion GBP ($6.9 billion), that wouldn't be such a bad deal overall.
One of the possible buyers is Jim Ratcliffe, Britain's wealthiest man and owner of the INEOS Group - the main sponsor for Hamilton's Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team. Ratcliffe is a known Manchester United fan from childhood and, according to his own statements, the only reason he has never put in a bid for the club was because it was never up for sale.
Earlier this year, Sir Jim Ratcliffe attempted to buy London-based Chelsea Football Club following the controversy around its previous owner, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. His bid failed as U.S. businessman Todd Boehly became the new owner, but what's interesting about this is that Hamilton himself was actually involved in that bidding as well, only completely separately to Ratcliffe's attempts.
Asked about the possibility of joining an eventual bid for Manchester United together with the INEOS Group owner, Hamilton seemed a little bewildered but definitely left the door wide open.
“It’s the first time I’ve heard of it," he said after the Dutch Grand Prix. “I haven’t had time to catch up with Jim since I was in Namibia (during the mid-season break). I haven’t had a call from him asking if I want to be involved in that just yet, but I do want to get more and more involved in teams."
“But Jim’s part-boss and part-partner, I would say we’re more partners because we’re in this together and I hope in the future to do something with Jim and build with him, I don’t know when that’ll be or what that’ll be.”
The only thing missing from this becoming reality is the Glazer family actually wanting to sell. As things stand, despite the growing rumors and the whole maneuver making a lot of financial sense, there is no official word that a sale is inevitable. However, these things can very well happen behind closed doors so don't be surprised if you'll soon see Hamilton in the official seats at Old Trafford.
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