Crucial deal-maker in Hamilton's switch to Ferrari revealed

Lewis Hamilton's deal is reported to be of $446 million, since the deal also encompasses the Briton's organisation Mission44.

Beyond the huge payday Hamilton was also looking for a more stable stay than Mercedes' 1+1 contract offered in 2023.

The now Ferrari driver also was on the hunt for a better performing team, whcih in 2024, Ferrari clearly was, losing the Constructors' championship by a mere 14-points margin to McLaren.

The former F1 champion, speaking on Sky Sports' The F1 Show podcast relayed his view on what sponsor days truly mean for an F1 driver.

“I’m not allowed to say it’s painful for us [drivers]," he began. "Because everybody watching will be like: ‘Shut up. You earn so much money, all you have to do is go to a sponsor event, shake some hands, take some pictures, and I’m saying it’s painful', but it is really painful.

The German then admitted that a F1 driver can have as many two whole months worth of sponsor day activities pero season, which according to him played a part in Hamilton's decision to go to Ferrari.

“That was one of the reasons for Lewis’s switch to Ferrari,” claimed Rosberg.

“I heard numbers that in [Sebastian] Vettel’s time, it was 10 days that Vettel had to do and that was it," added Rosberg, highlighting the dramatic drop of 60 PR days a tMercedes to 10 at Ferrari.

“And that really, especially in the twilight of your career, is something that you just value so enormously, and that was part of Lewis’s reason to go to Ferrari also. It was part of the decision making,” Rosberg concluded.