In following Michael Schumacher to Switzerland, Lewis Hamilton will hope to benefit from a super-rich-friendly “forfait tax” - a lump sum that lets newcomers pay a fixed rate on their entire earnings. Individuals who take up residence in Switzerland for the first time and do not work in the country can negotiate a fixed annual tax with the authorities.

An estimated 3,600 foreigners opt to pay the lump-sum taxes, at an average of about £31,500. The 22-year-old, who experts have said could secure a new contract worth £10 million before bonuses and sponsorship, would save £4 million a year on his basic salary alone. To be eligible, Hamilton will have to promise not to work in Switzerland. The calculation assumes a taxable income of five times the rental value of the individual’s property.

Mike Warburton, the head of tax law at Grant Thornton, the accountant, said: “They [racing drivers] usually have a company set up in their name, the idea being that it would be taxed at the rate for companies – in this country [Britain] 30 per cent, soon to be 28 per cent. The money is then stripped out when they have become non-domicile. It’s a way of reducing the rate from 41 per cent.”

Warburton added that it was common for racing drivers to have non-residential status, because of they amount of time they spend out of the country.

Hamilton was reportedly house-hunting this month in Monaco, the tax haven that is home to Sir Philip Green, the owner of BHS, and Sir Stelios Haji-Ionnaou, the founder of easyJet, but changes announced by Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, in his pre-Budget report may have prompted him to look to Switzerland. Monaco-based exiles could previously travel to the UK on a Monday and return on a Wednesday and count only one day towards the 90 they were allowed to spend in Britain before they are taxed here. Under the new rules, the days of departure and arrival will count towards the 90-day limit, making it a less desirable location for jet-setting commuters.

The top rate of income tax in Switzerland is 47 per cent, although rates vary between cantons. Geneva, a renowned playground of the rich, boasts the highest rates.