News

Hamilton fan makes Ladbrokes sweat

November 04, 2008 Edition 1

LONDON: A fan of Lewis Hamilton won £125 000 (about R2 million) after betting 10 years ago that the Formula One driver would win the world championship.

Ladbrokes said that total - along with a winning bet that paid out £40 000 (R650 000) a year ago for the fan - was the biggest single pay-out for a Formula One bet in the firm's history.

Hamilton, 23, clinched the championship when he passed German driver Timo Glock to take fifth place on the final lap of the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The punter, who is from Peterborough, north of London, made three bets totalling £350 (R5 700) in May 1998.

He is planning to use his winnings to buy a Tag Heuer watch, take his family on holiday to Cuba and buy his wife a Mercedes-Benz car.

"We had been sweating on this bet for a while," said Ladbrokes spokesman Nick Weinberg. - Sapa-AFP

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