F1 drivers’ salaries: Lewis Hamilton tops the 2021 list

On the track, as for salary, it is Lewis Hamilton who sits at the top of the hierarchy with an estimated salary of 40 million pounds, or 46 million euros. This staggering sum represents more than double that of his closest pursuer, Max Verstappen. The Dutch driver would pocket a salary of 21 million euros, a substantial margin ahead of two drivers earning 11.5 million euros each, namely Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc and McLaren’s new recruit, Daniel Ricciardo. In fifth position, we find the second Ferrari driver, Spanish Carlos Sainz, credited with an annual salary of 8.5 million euros.

Apart from Lewis Hamilton, the other four drivers in this top 5 have never been world champion or even runner-up, reflecting the hope and expectations placed on these drivers.

In order to find the presence of another world champion, one must go exit the top 5, with Sebastian Vettel, a four-time world champion, receiving a salary of 8.5 million euros at Aston Martin. Another titled driver is just behind, he is Spanish, has won two world titles and is making his big comeback this year in F1, it is Fernando Alonso, of course, at the new Alpine team. The second driver of the leading team in the discipline, Mercedes, is only in eighth position. Indeed, the Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas earns a salary of 6.5 million euros. In ninth position, we find a driver who was without a seat until the last Grand Prix of the season, Mexican Sergio Perez, the brand new second Red Bull driver, with a salary of 5 million euros. Another world champion driver is in tenth place in this ranking, it is Kimi Räikkönnen, a driver at Alfa Romeo, with a salary of 4 million euros.

In the eleventh and twelfth positions, we find the French drivers in this ranking. Having made his comeback on the track last year with the Renault team after a year of drought, Esteban Ocon, teammate of Fernando Alonso at Alpine this year, holds the eleventh place in the ranking with a salary of 3 million euros. Just behind, we find the driver who won his first Grand Prix last year at Monza, creating the highlight of the 2020 season. Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri driver, is credited with a salary of 2.5 million euros. In thirteenth position is the Canadian driver Lance Stroll, teammate this year of Sebastian Vettel at Aston Martin, with a salary of 2 million euros. The second McLaren driver in this ranking is in fourteenth position, also far from his teammate, it is the young Lando Norris, who earns a salary of 2 million euros. For the fifteenth and sixteenth positions, we find the two Williams drivers, namely George Russell and Nicholas Latifi, earning 1 million and 750,000 euros respectively. The only Italian driver in this grid, Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo driver, also has a salary of 750,000 euros.

Finally, for the last three positions in this ranking, we find the three rookies (beginners) of this season. Firstly, the two Haas drivers Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin each receive an annual salary of 350,000 euros. Finally, to close the ranking, we find the very young Japanese driver from AlphaTauri, Yuki Tsunoda, far behind the others with a salary of 150,000 euros.

To conclude, one can notice that the salary gaps within the F1 paddock are significant. Indeed, firstly the top two in this ranking, namely Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, earn almost as much together as the rest of the grid combined, 67 million euros for the two leading drivers against 75.85 million euros for the rest of the drivers. Additionally, if we want to have a little fun with a comparison, it can be observed that Yuki Tsunoda earns around 307 times less than Lewis Hamilton.