He is arguably F1’s greatest driver with a fortune set to crash through the £250million barrier as his move to Ferrari is confirmed.

Sir Lewis Hamilton had been expected to see out his glittering career with Mercedes but he is now changing teams in a move that will shake the sport.

His status away from the track has continued to soar further, with Hamilton last year having been linked to singer Shakira amid long interest and speculation about his love life.

The 39-year-old will have fresh hope he will the title again to become the greatest ever after a poor season and losing out on his record-breaking eighth F1 world championship title when he was pipped by Dutch rival Max Verstappen in controversial style in Abu Dhabi in 2021.

The Ferrari deal is rumoured to come with a pay packet of at least £40million-a-year and a chance to continue his work to get more black drivers into F1 before he retires.

Hamilton is already arguably F1’s greatest ever sportsman.

Hamilton has used his sporting prowess and fame to shine a spotlight on racism, which he suffered during his upbringing.

For many years he has been the only black driver in F1 and has been campaigning to encourage more BAME people into the sport.

The seven-times Formula One world champion, 39, detailed the horrific abuse where fellow pupils would throw bananas at him and call him the ‘N-word‘.

Hamilton made the podium in his debut race and lost out on the driver’s championship to Kimi Räikkönen by one point.

He won the first of his seven F1 world championship – his only one with McLaren – the following season after a dramatic finale in Brazil.

With the backing of the German team Mercedes Hamilton won six out of seven of the next world championships, losing only once to his team mate Nico Rosberg in a dramatic and fiery title fight.

Despite losing the crown to Verstappen in dramatic style, Hamilton looks likely to battle on for his eight world championship.

Shakira had also been pictured as Silverstone last year, as Hamilton finished third at the British Grand Prix.

Hamilton serves as a producer of the film directed by Joseph Kosinski, which features Brad Pitt as the lead with Damson Idris and Kerry Condon also included on the cast.

‘It’s such a privilege… because we weren’t racing, we spent the whole day going through the script in London. Just to be able to sit there with Joe and Jerry [Bruckheimer], who are such legends, and then sit there and watch Brad work.

He claimed the decision to stop drinking alcohol was part of his efforts to seek an ‘extra one per cent’ to boost performances.

Hamilton is also a co-investor in the vegan fast food chain Neat Burger, while he became part of a group including former United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to invest in the Denver Broncos NFL team in August 2022.

The Mercedes driver was listed in listed as one of Sports Illustrated’s ‘Fashionable 50 Icons’ in 2019, while he has worked with Esquire, L’Officiel, Vogue, ICON and Men’s Health.