It’s no surprise that Lewis Hamilton remains F1’s top earner, having signed a two-year contract with Mercedes last July until the end of 2023.
Despite reports suggesting he had taken a pay cut, the The BBC reported that the seven-time world champion’s salary has returned to pre-Covid levels, earning him £40million a year before his many endorsements were taken into account.
Earlier this year, Max Verstappen signaled his commitment to Red Bull by signing the longest F1 contract on the grid, a five-year contract extension. reportedly worth £40m per season.
The Dutchman was rewarded for winning the 2021 F1 title with what is one of the most lucrative deals in F1 history. The deal will keep Verstappen at Red Bull until the end of 2028.
That puts the 24-year-old Verstappen on par with the salary Hamilton earned.
In a bid to ward off interest from F1 rivals Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari, McLaren tied Lando Norris to a bumper new long-term deal in February.
Just nine months after his last extension, Norris has agreed to another new contract which would see him earn £20million a year over the course of four years.
The 22-year-old rising British superstar, considered one of F1’s hottest talents, is now set to stay at Woking until the end of 2025.
Fernando Alonso remains one of the highest paid drivers in F1, according to a Spanish newspaper Mark reporting that the two-time world champion’s salary is around £15m ($18-20m) a year under his current contract.
The 41-year-old will move to Aston Martin on a multi-year deal at the end of 2022.
Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel was earning a fortune – estimated at £32m a year – during his time at Ferrari and was ranked 18th on Forbes’ list of highest-paid athletes in 2017.
But the German took a major pay cut to stay in F1 and join Aston Martin. Vettel reportedly earns £12.2m ($15m) a year, excluding bonuses and sponsorship deals. He will retire at the end of 2022.
Like Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo also took a pay cut when he left Renault after just two years to join McLaren for the 2021 F1 season.
The Australian’s current deal is set to last until the end of 2023 and sees him earn less than his young team-mate Norris, despite still sitting in F1’s top wage bracket.
Current F1 world championship leader Charles Leclerc is next on the list, earning £9.8m ($12m) a year at Ferrari.
The Monegasque has been handed a new five-year contract with the Italian outfit after an impressive debut season at Maranello after replacing Kimi Raikkonen in 2019 and comfortably beating then-teammate Vettel.
Ahead of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in April, it was announced that Carlos Sainz had signed a new contract with Ferrari until the end of 2024 as a reward for a strong first season with the team and the formation of a much appreciated partnership with Leclerc.
The 27-year-old now holds a contract as long as his teammate’s. According Italian newspaper Corriere dello SportSainz’s new contract puts him in the same salary bracket as Leclerc.
After winning the Monaco F1 Grand Prix, Red Bull announced that Perez had signed a new two-year contract worth £8.6m per season, according to Sportune.fr.
Despite Mercedes’ move to Alfa Romeo, Valtteri Bottas will earn the same money as last year. The Finn has agreed a multi-year deal with the Swiss side which would include a salary worth £8.1m ($10m) a year.
Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) – £8.1m**
Lance Stroll’s contract is believed to run until the end of 2022, but the Canadian’s seat is fairly secure given his father Lawrence is in charge of Aston Martin. Stroll’s earnings put him in the top 10 of drivers on the grid.
Returning F1 star Kevin Magnussen is set to earn £5m as part of his multi-year deal with Haas. The Dane only signed for the USA team on the eve of the 2022 season after Haas terminated Nikita Mazepin’s contract following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
F1 Grand Prix’s most recent winner Esteban Ocon is reportedly on a £4.1m ($5m)-a-year salary at Alpine, after signing a new deal to stay with the Anglo-French operation until 2024 last year.
Fellow race winner and Frenchman Pierre Gasly also earns the same amount at AlphaTauri. Gasly has committed to the team for 2023.
George Russell is believed to have a contract with Mercedes that mirrors that of team-mate Hamilton in terms of length, and the 24-year-old is set to earn five million per season, a significant increase on what he earned at Williams.
Alex Albon (Williams) £1.6m*
Williams’ new signing Alex Albon is next on the list, with the Anglo-Thai pocketing a seven-figure salary when he returns to the F1 grid this year.
Nicholas Latifi is one of the lowest paid drivers on the grid, with the Canadian earning a salary of $1million, matching that of F1 rookie Guanyu Zhou and Haas driver Mick Schumacher.
Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo) €816,000*
It’s no surprise to see Zhou at the bottom of this list given he’s F1’s newest driver, having graduated from F2 to become Bottas’ teammate at Alfa Romeo this year.
Mick Schumacher (Haas) £816,000*
The son of legendary seven-time F1 world champion Michael Schumacher has a salary similar to that of his fellow drivers at the back of the grid. The German is part of Ferrari’s junior program and could still emulate his father by driving for F1’s most famous team in the future.
Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) £615,000*
At the bottom of the list is AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda. The 22-year-old Japanese driver, in his second F1 campaign, is believed to earn just under a million a year.
* Figures according to Observer
** Figures according to RacingNews365.com
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