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.
