With few Formula 1 driver salaries publicly available, Forbes relied on financial documents, legal filings and press leaks as well as conversations with industry insiders and consultants to compile this list. Drivers typically receive a base salary plus bonuses for points scored or for race or championship wins, with the amount depending on the size of the team and the experience of the driver. A successful driver in F1 can earn a lot of money, and reports showed in 2021, F1 earned more than $2 billion in revenue.
F1 drivers receive additional bonuses through sponsorship opportunities and contractual agreements and endorsements rather than race prize money from F1. F1 has 20 seats, some people die before they even get a chance at formula 1, because even formula 2 is just as dangerous, the level of skill required here is 1 in hundreds of millions. So yes these drivers deserve every penny and maybe more, because none of these drivers should risking their lives for your amusement without being properly compensated. $1M is way to low, I agree with focusing more on race placements maybe to control salaries, but a base salary I think is a must. Athletes are not slaves that has to give up they lives and time and devote everything for our enjoyment. The moment salaries are reduced in sports, racing and all these things revert to slavery.
Because I can guarantee you would not devote all what you need to become good at any sport and expect minimum wage. That would be like me saying journalism is just a bunch of words put together in a few minutes or photographers are pointless because all you do is press a button. Stop reducing persons skill to just what you see on paper, when there is so much that goes on behind the scenes.
These people are human beings, not your puppets that you have at your beckon call. Formula One group placed a cost cap on each team in 2021 of $145 Million throughout the season. This cost cap only applies to performance-based costs like building, optimizing engines, and car structuring, including salaries paid to engineers and other staff. The cost cap also applies to branding, bonuses, hotels, and travel expenses. Formula One driver salaries are not affected by the cost cap, and teams can pay their drivers as much as they like. Formula One drivers do not receive prize money; their teams pay their salaries.
Generally, the drivers or the teams do not disclose their total earnings. The highest-paid F1 driver is Lewis Hamilton, who earned $65 million from his contract with Mercedes. Leading the field is Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-AMG), with a reported annual salary of $30 million.
At the end of the 2020 season, Hamilton was reportedly earning around $40m per year, but his new deal (a one-year contract with the option to extend into 2022) saw him take a reduced salary. Despite him being a seven-time champion and rewriting the sport's record books, it wasn't enough to warrant a hefty paycheck. And with Williams driver George Russell waiting in the wings to take over, Hamilton had little choice but to agree to the new deal. Leading the pack is Mercedes superstar Lewis Hamilton, who is on pace to earn $62 million on the track in 2021. That figure includes a $55 million base salary—more than double what his closest competitor is guaranteed—as well as a projected $7 million in bonuses for race wins.
Beginning in this season, F1 teams are subject to a cost cap of $175 million per team. This cap limits expenditures on car performance but doesn't apply to marketing costs or driver salaries. His bonus is paid by contractual agreements and sponsorships rather than from F1. Verstappen is ranked number two on the Forbes list of highest-paid Formula 1 drivers. Unlike his father, Carlos had not won a Formula 1 championship or any of the racing tournaments in which he participated.
Despite this, his driving skills have earned him one of the most lucrative contracts as he will receive an annual salary of 3,5 million euros in 2020. Carlos, who is currently the 8th highest paid F1 driver in the world. F3 drivers are not paid for racing at the lower levels, but they can earn money through personal sponsorships. F3 racers must pay a team to give them their seat in a race.
Affiliating with a team can help them make money by appearing in promotional activities representing the team, whether it be through public appearances or through media and advertisements. There are many methods for F3 racers to promote their racing careers while also earning money for doing so. Although DTM drivers are paid for their races, they are not paid very much. There is no official list of the salaries of DTM drivers, like there are for F1 or NASCAR racers, but the salaries of the top DTM drivers are believed to be similar to those of V8 Supercar Drivers in Australia. The top racers in Australia's racing league are paid as high as $1 million per year. However, this only applies to the top racers, so most racers in the DTM likely make a salary that can be significantly lower than that figure.
In most professional and minor league sports, athletes are paid for their work and contributions to their team. Most F3 drivers will have to pay the teams in order to secure their spot in races for a season. Racers are not paid for their performances, but instead can only make money through personal sponsorships. Success in F3 can lead to a spot in F2 or even a direct advancement to F1, although this is very rare. Formula One racing drivers are amongst the world's best paid sporting stars, and the glamour attached to top level motor racing attracts lucrative sponsorship deals and TV deals which pump money into the sport.
The role of the mechanics who have responsibility for the performance of cars both during and between races is an essential one. Whilst their salaries are nowhere near those of the drivers, they earn a decent wage and the opportunity to travel and work in some of the world's top destinations. He's the most successful Formula One racer from Finland, having won 21 Grands Prix, and the only driver to win eras of V10, V8 and hybrid V6 engines. Back in 2008, he was fifth highest paid sportsman according to Forbes. He'll be competing in the 2019 season, with his total career earnings estimated to be $331 Million.
There is some controversy regarding the F3 salary structure, as it can be worrisome for some younger races who do not have a well-off family to support their racing endeavours. These racers may also not attract sponsorships from teams because their financial situations may not compare favorably to other F3 racers. Some drivers attempt to pursue the start of their racing careers in other lower level racing leagues, where they will be paid directly for their races.
NFL has hardly any interest outside of the US, despite numerous attempts to spread it to Europe. Whereas F1, football, tennis, etc, are played and watched around the globe. The stars of those sports are known world wide and earn accordingly.
There are only 20 F1 drivers, there are hundreds of NFL players and I couldn't name one. There's no games for retired players, there are no games for anyone who doesn't play at college and then become a professional. Although occasionally pay drivers are labelled as "unworthy" for an F1 seat, many of the pay drivers in F1 today come with occasional success in their individual races in lower formulas. Maldonado would cement his place in Formula One history with a win at the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix as the first Venezuelan to win in F1 with what became the only pole, podium, and win of his career. It was also the first win for Williams since 2004 and their last as of 2021. Lewis Hamilton, who replaced Michael Schumacher at Mercedes in 2012, has become an icon on the same level as his predecessor.
The 36-year-old signed a two-year contract extension with Mercedes this summer, following up on a three-year, $140 million deal in 2015 and a two-year, $100 million extension in 2018. He is also the founder of X44, a team in the new off-road electric-SUV racing series Extreme E. Hamilton, who has four wins through ten races, still has time to overtake Verstappen, with the gap in the standings a mere eight points and 12 races remaining on the schedule . If they win one race, they get X dollars; if they win two, double it. If they win the Indianapolis 500, that's usually where the biggest bonus comes — even more so than winning the series championship. Sometimes, that bonus will come from the team, but it often comes from a team partner or sponsor.
How Much Do Formula 1 Drivers Get Paid Per Race As a hypothetical, if Scott Dixon won the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500 this year, PNC Bank might pay him a bonus as a reward for all of the added exposure. It's unclear what will happen with driver salaries next year under the budget cap, though despite their earnings are exempt, it may indicate an overall levelling out of money earned by the drivers at the top of the grid. However, it is likely that as long as Hamilton remains in F1, he will secure his place at the top of this particular list. At number 2 in the highest-paid race car drivers is Fernando Alonso.
He first got behind the steering wheel when he was three and got into kart racing and won three consecutive championships. He enjoyed a period of unprecedented success when he won four F1 World Driver Championships consecutively. This made him the only fourth person to ever win four or more championships. He has earned a reported $32 million last year making him one of the top paid race car drivers. The professional drivers in Formula sign new deals and shuffle from one team to another with 1st driver opportunity.
According to public report in 2019, formula 1 drivers salaries 25% increase in past five years. Lewis Hamilton currently highest earning Formula 1 driver on annual base salary. In 2018, Hamilton signed two years contract deal with Mercedes Meclarn F1 for ($51 million a year) $100 million total value of contract.
One of these leagues is the DTM, or the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters . Although a majority of the racers in this league are not paid handsomely, it can be viewed as a better alternative than F3 simply because the racers are paid for their performance. Pay drivers are also common in stock car racing and are very prevalent in development series such as the Xfinity Series and ARCA Racing Series.
There are also several pay drivers competing at the Cup level including Matt Tifft and Paul Menard, the son of home improvement tycoon John. Menard had some success with a victory at the Brickyard 400 in 2011 and a Chase for the Sprint Cup appearance in 2015, while medical issues halted Tifft's racing career in 2019. Because of this the rules on driver changes were subsequently tightened. The salary of an F1 race car driver depends on the contract he signed with the team and bonuses and points earned during the season.
The top earners in Formula 1 drivers also include F1 Driver Sebastian Vettel, who has signed a record deal with Aston Martin F1 and has an annual salary of $23 million per year. Max Verstappen has extended his contract with the Red Bull till 2023 and will receive a base salary of $23.5 million per season. Lewis Hamilton ($60 million) annual salary remain the highest paid driver in F season. Some drivers did not signed extension contract and after 2020 they are looking for better deals. Max Verstappen driving the last season for the Red Bull racing team. Since then, apart from the 2016 Championship, he has won all editions of the Formula 1 Championship.
Lewis Hamilton, who is considered the greatest racing driver in the Formula 1 Championship, holds several records in the championship. Hamilton, who races for Mercedes, will receive a salary of 48 million euros for the 2020 season, making him the highest-paid F1 driver in the world today. Hamilton, who is the highest paid driver in F1 history, has a total career income of around $ 500 million.
A pay driver is a person who is able to participate in professional races by either opting to race for free or by paying a team to let them race. The team can then use this money to further fund their operations. Pay drivers are prominent in the lower levels of professional racing, specifically in F2 and F3, although there are some pay drivers in high levels such as F1 and NASCAR. However, there are much fewer pay drivers at the higher levels and they typically do not perform well compared to other racers. Before F3 can be introduced, you must first have a basic knowledge of F1. Formula 1 racing is the highest class of international racing in the world.
Since there are many races in each season, and because drivers come from all different parts of the world, the sport is extremely popular worldwide. Many young racers dream of racing in F1, but there are many other levels they must pass through to get there. Just like minor league levels for athletes in other sports who aspire to have a major league career, the F3 level is viewed as a racer's first step towards a potential future in F1.
This may be done to gain on-track experience or to live the lifestyle of a driver in a particular series when one's talent or credentials do not merit a paying ride. Alternatively, said person is also called a ride buyer or a rich kid in the United States, a gentleman driver in sports car and GT racing and a privateer in Australia. Massa has competed alongside some of the best in the Formula 1 world, including Lewis Hamilton, winning six races opposed to Hamilton's five wins.
Overall, Felipe Massa is still one of the most successful Formula 1 racers of all time, and it shows in the bank. Much like his countryman Rubens, his career earnings come out at $110 Million. Car Racing is one of the most taxing and at the same time one of the most lucrative sports in the world. Not only are race car drivers crazy famous but are also paid mullah. Here we take a look at thetop 10 highest paid race car drivers. F3 can be very expensive for racing prospects but can turn out to be a prosperous investment if they make it to the F1 level, where most racers earn millions of dollars for their races.
Lewis Hamilton, who is currently the highest paid F1 racer with a salary of $76 million in 2020, began his career racing in F3. Still one of the drivers collecting the most from an F1 team is Kimi Raikkonen, even though he's not racing in F1 any more. His severance package from Ferrari for 2010 was €19 million, with a clause that if he found other employment the income would be offset.
He is retained by Red Bull/Citroen at around €10m per year, so Ferrari pays €9 million. In the good old days Raikkonen was earning over €30 million a year from Ferrari. One wonders how long it will be before we see those kinds of salaries again. This is three times more than the most highly paid footballer.
Webber has won four races and leads the championship, while Vettel has won twice and is well within striking distance in the title race. But from my experience of the pair, I don't think money is that strong a motivation. I think they are both highly motivated to win races and clinch the title with this exceptional car. Being paid an estimated $40-$50 million to drive an F1 race car is clearly outrageous, especially considering that winning an F1 race is not solely nor mostly dependent on the driver.
Consider the fraction of Hamilton's yearly salary that Bottas gets, and Bottas still gets some wins, the disparity between those two drivers, on the same team, is quite ridiculous. The difference in salary is a factor in how the team mates view each other, and that affects the racing. True, some drivers pay to race, but that compounds the divide between the top three teams and the rest. The solution is for driver earnings to be included in budget caps on the basis that they are performance differentiators, which would in turn release more funding for staff and technology by driving down driver costs. In recent years, two particular teams that notoriously made headlines for hiring pay drivers were Racing Point and Williams. After Racing Point was purchased by a consortium led by Lawrence Stroll, his son Lance took over one of the team's seats in 2019.
