With the sport’s popularity soaring internationally, drivers are now earning hefty salaries each season.
Of course, the top drivers earn more than newcomers or backmarkers. But still, each of the 19 full-time drivers this season reportedly are earning at least $1 million.
Here are all the details on F1 driver salaries in USD for 2023 (figures courtesy of RacingNews365, not accounting for bonuses, sponsorships or endorsem*nts):
Max Verstappen, the three-time reigning champion, is unsurprisingly the highest paid driver in 2023.
The 26-year-old Dutchman narrowly won his first title in 2021 before winning in dominant fashion in both 2022 and 2023. He’s quickly moved into the top five on the all-time wins list.
In 2023, Verstappen reportedly will earn a salary of $55 million from his team, Red Bull Racing. He has driven for Red Bull Racing since 2016 after being promoted from Toro Rosso, which was then effectively Red Bull’s junior team.
Behind Verstappen, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton ($35 million) and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc ($24 million) round out the podium of highest paid drivers in 2023. Hamilton is a seven-time champion, while the 26-year-old Leclerc is a rising star for the sport’s most famous team.
Who is the lowest paid F1 driver in 2023?
Three drivers reportedly will make $1 million in 2023 – Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg, AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Williams’ Logan Sargeant. While they all have the same salary, they are in three completely different eras of their respective careers.
Hülkenberg, 36, debuted in 2010 for Williams. While he’s been a respectable veteran over parts of 12 seasons, the German driver holds the record for most F1 starts without a podium finish.
Tsunoda, 23, is in his third season for AlphaTauri, Red Bull’s sister team. He’s yet to score a podium finish, but the Japanese driver has performed well relative to expectations of his team.
Sargeant, 22, stands out as the only American on the grid in 2023. In his rookie campaign, the Florida native has struggled compared to his Williams teammate Alexander Albon. Without improved results, Sargeant’s F1 career could be short-lived.
List of F1 driver salaries for 2023
There are 20 drivers in each race, but only 19 have run full-time this season. Nyck de Vries began the season driving for AlphaTauri, but was replaced by Daniel Ricciardo after 10 races.
Here’s how all 19 full-time drivers stack up this season in order of salary:
Max Verstappen (Red Bull, ninth F1 season), $55 million
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes, 17th F1 season), $35 million
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari, sixth F1 season), $24 million
Lando Norris (McLaren, fifth F1 season), $20 million
Carlos Sainz (Ferrari, ninth F1 season), $12 million
Sergio Perez (Red Bull, 13th F1 season), $10 million
Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo, 11th F1 season), $10 million
George Russell (Mercedes, fifth F1 season), $8 million
Esteban Ocon (Alpine, seventh F1 season), $6 million
Pierre Gasly (Alpine, seventh F1 season), $5 million
Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin, 20th F1 season), $5 million
Kevin Magnussen (Haas, eighth F1 season), $5 million
Alexander Albon (Williams, fourth F1 season), $3 million
Oscar Piastri (McLaren, first F1 season), $2 million
Lance Stroll (Aston Martin, seventh F1 season, $2 million
Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo, second F1 season), $2 million
Nico Hülkenberg (Haas, 12th F1 season), $1 million
Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri, third F1 season), $1 million
Logan Sargeant (Williams, first F1 season), $1 million
Overall, salaries for F1 drivers range from about $1 million to an impressive $55 million. A former soccer player who now lives and works in Barcelona, Paul has been living in Spain since 2011.
Overall, salaries for F1 drivers range from about $1 million to an impressive $55 million. A former soccer player who now lives and works in Barcelona, Paul has been living in Spain since 2011.
Max Verstappen's achievements on the track translate into substantial financial success off it. Forbes estimates his 2023 earnings, including salary and bonuses, at a remarkable $70 million, solidifying his status as the wealthiest current F1 driver for the second consecutive year.
How much is Charles Leclerc paid? Estimated based on various conversations within the F1 paddock and among various teams, Charles Leclerc will be paid approximately $34 million annually by Ferrari with his contract until 2028.
Accoring to Forbes, Hamilton received a salary of $55m last season with Mercedes. The 39-year-old British driver will make $53.9m during his first year with Ferrari, La Gazzetta dello Sport reported.
Less experienced drivers like Logan Sargeant and Zhou Guanyu feature lower down the list, with Yuki Tsunoda also nearer the bottom of the reported earning standings despite 2024 being his fourth F1 season, though he may well have his income supplemented by Honda, with whom he has strong links.
Lewis Hamilton takes the top spot, taking just 34 laps to earn $1 million. The fewest number of laps of any F1 Grand Prix is the iconic Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, where the drivers race just 44 laps. This means that at every GP Lewis Hamilton races, he will earn at least $1 million.
Estimates for the Red Bull driver's actual net worth vary extremely widely, with some websites such as placing it around the $90million mark, as per CelebrityNetWorth.com, going up to as much as $210million as of December 2023, per CAKnowledge.
Hamilton had signed a new deal with his current team in the summer of 2023, which would keep him at the squad through to the end of 2025. However, activating a release option in his contract allowed Hamilton to put pen to paper with Ferrari, who he will join next season after his final campaign with Mercedes in 2024.
One such notable figure in the F1 world is Lawrence Stroll, a billionaire and owner of the Racing Point F1 team (now Aston Martin F1 Team), whose son, Lance Stroll, has made a name for himself as an F1 driver.
Forbes estimates that at least ten billionaires, worth a collective $146 billion, are involved in F1 as of the 2021 season. Here's a look at the sport's wealthiest team owners, sponsors and other figures.
Interestingly, at the bottom of the list are two drivers from the most developed economies in the world: Yuki Tsunoda from Japan and Logan Sargeant from the United States. These two drivers will receive only one million euros each, significantly lower than the earnings of other drivers on the list.
Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen tops the list with a $55 million salary after the most dominant season in Formula 1 history. RBR is just one of three teams, along with Mercedes and Ferrari, to feature both of its drivers in the top 10 earners.
Introduction: My name is Barbera Armstrong, I am a lovely, delightful, cooperative, funny, enchanting, vivacious, tender person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
