Who are the highest-paid F1 drivers this year? Let’s take a look at the top 15 richest speed demons!
Perhaps the F1 Grand Prix Racing is not as big as the World Cup of football. But it is definitely the most expensive sport in the world. One of the reasons is the expenditure to pay these highest-paid F1 drivers.
F1 is also a dangerous sport. However, it has a great proportion between how dangerous the sport is and how high the drivers’ salaries are.
In this article, we will be talking about some of the greatest drivers in the world. These 15 people are not just the best, but also the highest-paid. In fact, the top four made it to current Forbes’ list of highest-paid athletes.
Being the F1 driver is a dream job. You get to travel around the world throughout the entire season. And you also get paid for speeding. Let’s find out about these lucky fifteen gentlemen!
15. Max Verstappen ($800,000)
Max Verstappen is the youngest driver to ever win a F1 race. He is only 18 years old. He has a long and bright career ahead of him.
The $800,000 paycheck from his current team, Red Bull Racing, was from the beginning of this season. After his last victory in Spanish Grand Prix, he would definitely get a salary raise.
If you have been following this sport for a long time, you may find his name familiar. That is because his father, Jos Verstappen, was also a F1 driver. He competes for a decade. His last season was in 2003.
There are many more interesting facts about Max. Take a look at this article, The Story Behind Verstappen’s Historical Victory, to find out more.
14. Daniil Kvyat ($1 million)
Daniil Kvyat may be the sour loser to Max Verstappen’s victory. It is not because he was the one to beat. But it is because the young Verstappen took his place at Red Bull Racing team.
Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso team are under the same management. Toro is the Italian word for “bull”, and Rosso is “red”, get it? Before the Spanish Grand Prix, the team principal made a decision to swap Verstappen and Kvyat.
Thus, Kvyat is currently racing for Toro Rosso. In spite of his demotion, he is still getting his $1 million annual paycheck.
Kvyat is Russian. In 2013, he joined F1 as a test driver for Toro Rosso. He was promoted to Red Bull Racing in 2015, in which he finished 7th in the drivers’ championship.
13. Esteban Gutierrez ($2 million)
The 24 years old Mexican race car driver is currently driving for Haas F1 team. So far, this season hasn’t been so good for Gutierrez. He had to retire on the first two races. At this point, he hasn’t won any championship point.
In spite of that, the team still believes in his racing skill. He had a bright career in both GP3 and GP2 anyway. They give him a $2 million annual salary.
Gutierrez won his first major racing championship of Formula BMW Europe in 2008. Then, he won the GP3 series in 2010. He only came 3rd in GP2, but only because he was promoted to F1 in the following year.
This is his third year competing in F1 as the team’s front runner. He started 2012 as a test driver for Sauber.
12. Sergio Perez ($3 million)
Sergio Perez was a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy when he first stepped into the F1 world. He got his first podium finish at the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix with Sauber Racing Team.
He signed up with McLaren for the 2013 season but he failed miserably. His team got one of its worst years since 1980. But that didn’t stop Sergio. He has been referred to as “The Mexican Wunderkind” because of his excellent performance at such young age.
He is currently racing for Force India. Yesterday, May 30th, he gave his current team its first podium finish in Monaco Grand Prix. Due to rainy condition, the race started behind the safety car. Perhaps, a little bit of luck helped him through.
The team paid him approximately $3 million for this season. With his recent achievement in Monaco, he will definitely get bonus cash or even better: salary raise!
11. Valtteri Bottas ($3.2 million)
Finland had Mika Hakkinen, who put up one of the greatest rivalry with F1 legend, Michael Schumacher. Then, came along Kimi Raikkonen the iceman who won the F1 championship title in 2007. Will Valtteri Bottas shine next?
The 26 years old Finnish driver came close in 2014. He finished 4th in the drivers’ championship. However, he hasn’t won any F1 race.
He had a very bright career from 2007 to 2011. He won many championships such as Formula Renault, Masters of Formula 3, and GP3 series. Seeing those, Williams team brought him to F1 as a test driver in 2012.
Williams team pays him $3.2 million of annual salary with a hope that he can bring the team to its best. Considering his achievements compared to other next generation drivers, he has what it takes to win.
10. Romain Grosjean ($3.3 million)
Next up is another driver from Haas F1 team, Romain Grosjean. The 30 years old race car driver was actually born in Switzerland, but he is racing under the French flag. He holds dual Franco-Swiss nationality.
Grosjean won his first major championship title in 2003. He was driving for Advance Racing team in the Formula Lista Junior. Then in 2005, he won the French Formula Renault. Other championships he won are the Formula 3 Euro series and GP2 series.
He has been involved in F1 Grand Prix since 2009. But he only started as one of the two main drivers in 2012 for Lotus.
His highest achievement in F1 is finishing 7th in the drivers’ championship in 2013. The Lotus team appreciates him with $3.3 million annual salary.
9. Felipe Massa ($4.3 million)
The Brazilian F1 racing driver is currently driving for Williams F1 Team, alongside his teammate Valtteri Bottas. His experience in F1 racing grants him a bigger paycheck, $4.3 million.
Massa started his career in go-karting from the age of eight. Then, he continued on national and regional championships for seven years.
After that, he moved into Formula Chevrolet and claimed the championship. He started his F1 career with Sauber and later joined Scuderia Ferrari as a test driver in 2003.
He returned to Sauber for 2004 and 2005 seasons before rejoining Ferrari. That was when his career started to peak. He won two races in 2006, including his home Grand Prix. He became the second Brazilian to win the Brazilian Grand Prix after the late Ayrton Senna.
8. Nico Hulkenberg ($4.5 million)
Nico Hulkenberg is a German professional race car driver. He is currently racing for the Sahara Force India F1 Team. He stepped into the F1 world in 2011 after his remarkable achievements in the GP2 series.
That year, he first joined Force India as a test driver. Then in 2012, he was given the front seat to race for the team alongside Paul di Resta. He was also given the annual salary of approximately $4.5 million.
Hulkenberg was the 2009 champion of the GP2 Series. He was also the former champion of both the Formula 3 Euro Series and A1 Grand Prix, as part of A1 Germany Team.
He is one of three drivers to ever win the GP2 series championship on his debut season. The other two are Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
7. Daniel Ricciardo ($6 million)
Daniel Ricciardo is an Australian race car driver. He is currently competing in F1 for Infiniti Red Bull Racing. He signed up with the team as Mark Webber’s replacement. The fellow Aussie driver announced his retirement from Formula 1 in 2013.
His current teammate is the youngest F1 race winner, Max Verstappen. This definitely gives Ricciardo a new level of pressure since he is supposed to be the number one driver in the team.
Ricciardo attained his first win at the 2014 Canadian Grand Prix by overtaking Nico Rosberg on lap 68 of 70. In his first season with Red Bull, Ricciardo finished third in the championship. The team granted him a $6 million annual paycheck.
In spite of his blooming career, Ricciardo is currently having a hard time with his team. After he felt disadvantaged by the team’s decision in this year’s Spanish Grand Prix, yesterday’s pit failure brought him more disappointment. We’ll see how he handles this on the next race.
6. Jenson Button ($13 million)
The British F1 driver is currently racing for McLaren. He is paid $13 million annually. Both he and his teammate made it to this highest-paid F1 drivers list. Spoiler alert!
He began his career at the age of eight and achieved early success. He raced in the British Formula Ford Championship and the British Formula Three Championship.
Button first competed in F1 Grand Prix with Williams for the 2000 season. In 2009, he clinched the World Championship title when he drove for Brawn GP.
In the following year, he moved to McLaren. He finished fifth in the Championship. He became the World Championship’s runner-up one year after. This year is his 16th year in F1. Until today, he has won 15 races throughout his entire F1 career.
5. Nico Rosberg ($19 million)
The professional German race car driver is currently a part of the winning Mercedes Petronas AMG team, alongside the reigning world champion, Lewis Hamilton.
In earlier stage of his career, he competed for Finland. He holds dual nationality for both countries. However, he is racing under the German flag in F1.
Rosberg won the 2005 GP2 Series for the ART team. Prior to that, he raced in Formula 3 Euro Series for his father Keke Rosberg’s racing organization, Team Rosberg.
Nico Rosberg is probably at his peak of his career. Before Hamilton won the Monaco GP yesterday, he won all of the races he finished since the start of the 2016 season. This only means that his $19 million paycheck will only get bigger.
4. Kimi Raikkonen ($27 million)
We are moving on to the top four highest-paid F1 drivers. These gentlemen are in the current Forbes list of Top 100 highest-paid athletes. Let’s start with the Forbes’s number 32, Kimi Raikkonen.
Raikkonen started his F1 career with Sauber in 2001. The following year, he signed up with McLaren before moving to Ferrari five years later.
With Scuderia Ferrari, he won the World Drivers’ Championship in 2007. It was a tight competition. He defeated the runner-ups, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, only by a single point.
He took a break from F1 in 2009 and decided to try on World Rally Championship. He returned to F1 in 2012 with Lotus F1 Team. Then in 2014, he returned to his winning team, Ferrari.
According to Forbes, Kimi Raikkonen receives a $25 million annual paycheck in addition to $2 million team endorsement payment. So, in total, Ferrari pays him $27 million for one year.
3. Sebastian Vettel ($33 million)
Sebastian Vettel is a professional German race car driver which is currently driving for Ferrari, alongside his teammate and his close friend, Kimi Raikkonen.
He won the championship title four years in a row in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. This made him one of the most successful F1 drivers of all time.
Vettel left Red Bull Racing team and ended his long-term association with the company after the 2014 season and signed a contract with Ferrari for 2015. It was considerably shocking since he had to activate a clause to terminate his Red Bull contract early.
Vettel was the highest-paid driver in 2014 when he was the reigning world champion. Despite the team struggles in generating faster car than both Mercedes and Red Bull, Ferrari still manages to pay him $32 million in addition to $1 million endorsement payment. This puts him as Forbes’s number 21 highest-paid athletes.
2. Fernando Alonso ($35.5 million)
Fernando Alonso won the world Karting championship in 1996. The Spaniard made his debut in F1 back in 2001 season with Minardi. In the following year, he moved to Renault as a test driver.
He clinched the world championship title two years in a row in 2005 and 2006. By the age of 22, he became the youngest driver to ever win F1 Grand Prix. This record was later broken by Sebastian Vettel (and again this year by Max Verstappen).
His strongest title challenges were in 2010 and 2012, finishing both seasons just adrift of title winner, Sebastian Vettel. He is given the nickname El Nano, a typical pseudonym for Fernando in Asturias, his place of birth.
Nowadays, McLaren pays him $34 million a year in addition to his $1.5 million endorsement payment. This puts him as the second highest- paid F1 driver and Forbes’s #17 highest-paid athletes.
1. Lewis Hamilton ($39 million)
And the highest-paid F1 driver is… the reigning world champion, Lewis Hamilton!
Hamilton has been into F1 racing since he was ten. Young Hamilton met McLaren team’s principal, Ron Dennis, at the Autosport Awards and said, “I want to race for you one day. I want to race for McLaren.”
Three years later, McLaren and Mercedes-Benz signed him up to their Young Driver Support Program. From there, his winning streak started.
He won the British Formula Renault, Formula 3 Euroseries, and GP2 Championships. But that was just the start of his career. In his first season in F1, he set numerous records while finishing as runner-up in the 2007 F1 Championship.
He has been with Mercedes team ever since. The team which gives him $36 million of paycheck in addition to $3 million of endorsement payment. The total $39 million payment put him as Forbes’s number 15.
