Image: Mercedes AMG F1
It was pretty clear to anyone who was paying attention that Lewis Hamilton has spent the last few years off the track deciding what he will do when he retires from Formula 1. The seven-time world champion already owns an Extreme-E racing team, a vegan restaurant called Neat Burger, a clothing line, and has been writing and recording music for over a decade. News broke on Thursday that Hamilton was involved in a consortium to buy British football club Chelsea, alongside others Sir Martin Broughton and Serena Williams.
While Hamilton has described himself as a lifelong Arsenal fan, now is a good time to invest in Chelsea. First, the club has been owned by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich since 2003. Abramovich was recently sanctioned by the British government and cannot benefit financially from the sale of the club, although Abramovich, as a potential peace broker between Russia and Ukraine, has declared the proceeds of the sale will benefit war victims directly. Secondly, Chelsea are the FIFA Club World Cup reigning team with some pretty great players in their squad. I’ve never heard of them because I know the damn thing about Brit Footy apart from what I learned from watching Ted Lasso.
Hamilton and tennis champion Williams have reportedly raised £10million each as part of the bid. Hamilton’s representation has confirmed he is involved in the offer but declined to confirm how much he expects. It would make sense that Hamilton would want to get involved in the sport as he is a longtime fan and very wealthy. That’s exactly what wealthy Brits do, isn’t it? The guy is 37 years old and he can’t race forever. At some point he will retire and will have to take care of something else. Why not invest in football?
However, there is nothing to suggest he and his consortium will win the bid as at least two other groups are reportedly interested in buying the club. Having said that, it would probably be in the team’s best interest to be at least partially owned by one of Britain’s most famous sporting personalities.