Lewis Hamilton has been given extra motivation in his bid to pip Max Verstappen to the World Championship crown in 2024 after Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds made a bet worth £250,000 to charity if any driver can beat the Red Bull star in the standings this season.
Verstappen was nigh-on unbeatable last year, winning 19 out of a possible 22 Grands Prix and breaking countless single-season records en route to his third successive Drivers’ Championship title.
Hamilton, meanwhile, was unable to claim a single race victory as Mercedes ended the year winless for the first time in over a decade. The legendary Brit is still hunting for a record-breaking eighth World Championship, but this will only be possible if the Silver Arrows can produce machinery capable of challenging Red Bull.
Speaking to TNT Sports presenter Jermaine Jenas ahead of pre-season testing in Bahrain, Dodds said: “99 per cent, he gets that trophy. I’ll tell you what, if he doesn’t win it – so there’s 20 drivers in Formula One – If he doesn’t win it… so there’s 19 other drivers – if any of the other 19 drivers win it, we’ll give a quarter of a million dollars to the charity of the other driver that wins it.”
When quizzed further about the sum, Dodds continued: “Yeah, why not? Well it wouldn’t be the worst day in the office to give a load of money to charity, let’s be honest.
“But absolutely, he is nailed on to win that season which is why for me, as a fan, or a fan of Formula E and Formula One, I know I’m going to turn up to Sao Paulo (round four of the Formula E calendar) – I run Formula E, you’re in the presentation team there – neither of us have any idea who is going to win that race. Right?
“So I’m quite excited by that. I know as a Formula One fan, the season is about to start and yeah, I’ll watch it and the fanfare and everything that goes with it, but I absolutely already know who is winning. You can’t win 19 out of 21 races in one season, go in the off-season, bit of development on the cars, come back for the next one and not win it. I just can’t see it.”