With two straight Formula 1 Drivers’ Championships under his belt, Max Verstappen has got the better of Lewis Hamilton on the track in recent years.
The 25-year-old Red Bull star won the 2021 championship in a dramatic climax to the season and went on to seal this season’s title with weeks to spare.
But Verstappen is now surging ahead of the Briton in the financial stakes too.
Seven-time champion Hamilton had been the sport’s top earner every year since 2013, however, he has now slipped to second in the list, behind the current champion, according to Forbes.
Who are F1's highest-paid drivers?
Verstappen is F1’s highest-paid driver for 2022 with a pre-tax total of $60 million from his salary and bonuses, according to Forbes’ estimates. Hamilton drops to second with an estimated $55 million. The last driver to out-muscle Hamilton financially was Alpine’s Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard is third on the list with an estimated $30 million, followed by Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez ($26 million) and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc ($23 million).
Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo and are level in sixth place ($17 million), with Carlos Sainz eighth ($15 million) and Lando Norris ninth ($11 million). George Russell completes the top 10 with earnings of $10 million.
Endorsement earnings are excluded from this ranking, partly because Formula 1 offers few marketing opportunities compared to other sports such as football, tennis or NBA.
Most drivers devote little attention to commercial activity outside the appearances they are contracted to make for their teams and their teams’ sponsors, with very few thought to pocket more than $1 million, with Hamilton’s income off the track pegged at $8 million and Verstappen’s at $2 million for Forbes’ 2022 list of the world’s highest-paid athletes.
And it could be a boom time for Formula 1 drivers with the sport’s top 10 earners netting an estimated $264 million, which marks a 25% increase from 2021’s projections.
F1 is growing as a sport, but a new budget cap, introduced last season, will limit spending in key areas to $135 million next year, forcing teams to contort their budgets from the days when they could spend sums approaching $400 million unchecked. And with design and research expenditures reduced, driver pay is excluded from the cost-cap calculation, leaving free-spending team bosses with one area they can throw cash at. Industry insiders expect the search for a competitive advantage within the new model will send driver pay soaring over the next few years.
ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - NOVEMBER 20: The drivers pose for the F1 2022 End of Year photo prior to the F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi at Yas Marina Circuit on November 20, 2022 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
Mercedes have endured a tough season and as a consequence Hamilton has been unable to compete for the title this season, at one point branding his car “undrivable”. However, he has still produced some brilliant drives against more powerful cars and will clearly still be one of the most sought-after drivers in the world.
Verstappen completed his championship year by taking victory at Formula 1’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – as Hamilton’s record of winning in every season of his career went up in smoke when he retired with three laps remaining.
Verstappen will now be looking to stay ahead of Hamilton next season, on both the track and the balance sheet. However, both have got a way to go to challenge the top earners in sport with Lionel Messi raking in $130 million to top the list, with LeBron James second on $121.2 million and Cristiano Ronaldo third with $115 million.
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