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Formula 1® drivers earn reported base salaries ranging from around US$500,000 for rookies to US$70 million for Max Verstappen, the grid’s highest earner in 2026. Lewis Hamilton follows on a reported $60 million at Ferrari, while most of the midfield sits between $2 million and $13 million a year.
Those are the headline figures, but they’re only the start of the story. The numbers in the salary tables are base pay, and for the sport’s biggest names, bonuses and personal sponsorships can match or exceed that figure entirely. Below you’ll find the full reported salary list for 2026, then the part most articles skip: how F1 driver pay actually works, and why the number next to a driver’s name is usually the floor, not the ceiling.
F1 Driver Salaries 2026: The Full List
One disclaimer before the table: teams do not publish driver salaries. Every figure below is a reported estimate, compiled by RacingNews365 from paddock sources in early 2026, and excludes bonuses and personal sponsorships.
| Rank | Driver | Team | Reported base salary (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | $70m |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | $60m |
| T-3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | $34m |
| T-3 | George Russell | Mercedes | $34m |
| 5 | Lando Norris | McLaren | $30m |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | $20m |
| T-7 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | $13m |
| T-7 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | $13m |
| T-9 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | $12m |
| T-9 | Alex Albon | Williams | $12m |
| T-9 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | $12m |
| 12 | Sergio Pérez | Cadillac | $8m |
| T-13 | Nico Hülkenberg | Audi | $7m |
| T-13 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | $7m |
| T-15 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | $5m |
| T-15 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | $5m |
| T-17 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | $2m |
| T-17 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | $2m |
| T-19 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | $1m |
| T-19 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | $1m |
| T-21 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | $0.5m to $1m |
| T-21 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | $0.5m to $1m |
The shape of the data tells its own story. There’s a steep cliff after the top two: Verstappen and Hamilton earn nearly double the next tier of Leclerc, Russell and Norris. Below them sits a broad midfield cluster between $2 million and $13 million, and at the bottom, rookies on deals from around $500,000, figures that look modest on this grid and enormous almost anywhere else. All up, 20 of the 22 drivers reportedly earn $1 million or more.
Who Is the Highest-Paid F1 Driver?
Max Verstappen, on a reported $70 million base salary for 2026, around $10 million clear of anyone else. The price reflects years of sustained dominance, including four consecutive world titles from 2021 to 2024, and a contract that runs to 2028.
Lewis Hamilton sits second on a reported $60 million in his second season at Ferrari. The move itself was a financial event: Hamilton reportedly accepted a pay cut to make the switch, and the announcement of his signing reportedly lifted Ferrari’s share price. When a driver’s transfer moves a company’s market value, you start to understand why the top of this table looks the way it does.
The $30 million tier below them holds Leclerc, Russell and Norris. And there’s a lovely wrinkle in that group: Norris, the reigning world champion after his 2025 title, earns a reported $30 million base, less than half of Verstappen’s figure. On paper, the champion is one of the better bargains on the grid. As we’re about to see, the base salary doesn’t tell his full story either.
How F1 Driver Pay Actually Works
Here’s where most salary articles stop and this one keeps going. A driver’s real earnings come in layers, and the base salary the tables report is just the first one.
| Component | What it is |
|---|---|
| Base salary | The guaranteed annual figure paid by the team. This is what the salary tables report, and it is only part of the picture. |
| Performance bonuses | Paid for results: wins, podiums, points or championship position. Can run to tens of millions for a top driver in a strong car. |
| Sponsorships and endorsements | Personal brand deals, separate from the team. For the biggest names, these can rival or exceed the base salary. |
| Other income | Business ventures, investments and appearances, from driver-owned companies to media interests. |
The bonus layer is where the numbers get genuinely wild, and one contract illustrates it better than any other. Kimi Raikkonen’s 2012 deal with Lotus reportedly paid him €50,000 per championship point scored. Two strong seasons later, his points bonus alone was reportedly worth €19.5 million, on top of everything else. When a driver overdelivers, performance pay can dwarf the base salary, and teams keep writing these deals because a modest guaranteed figure with big upside protects them if the partnership doesn’t work out.
It still happens today. Norris’s 2025 championship reportedly triggered performance bonuses in the tens of millions, turning that ‘bargain’ $30 million base into a very different total.
Base Salary vs Total Earnings: The Real Numbers
This is the most interesting story in the whole topic: the salary table systematically understates what the top drivers actually make.
Take Hamilton. His reported base at Ferrari is $60 million, but once bonuses and his personal sponsorship portfolio are counted, his total annual earnings are reported at around $100 million. Some outlets reported his Ferrari deal as worth several hundred million dollars across its full term once every element was included.
The pattern repeats down the grid. A driver on a comparatively modest base can still rank among the sport’s highest overall earners thanks to commercial deals and performance clauses, which is why the Forbes-style total-earnings lists never quite match the base-salary tables. The two are measuring different things.
So when someone tells you a driver ‘earns $34 million’, read it as the floor, not the ceiling. And remember that every one of these totals is a reported estimate that varies from source to source, because the only people who know the true numbers signed non-disclosure agreements.
Do Driver Salaries Count Towards the F1 Cost Cap?
No. Driver salaries are excluded from Formula 1’s cost cap entirely.
The cost cap was introduced in 2021 to level the financial playing field, limiting what teams could spend on car development and operations. Under the 2026 regulations the limit sits at around US$215 million a year, a figure that rose from roughly $135 million as previously exempt cost categories were folded in. Driver pay, however, remains explicitly outside it.
The implication is the part most articles miss: a team can pay its drivers whatever it likes and still spend the full cap on the car. Ferrari’s combined Hamilton and Leclerc payroll comes to around $94 million, and every dollar of it sits on top of, not inside, the team’s full development budget. Meanwhile a team paying its two drivers a combined $8 million pockets no advantage under the cap at all; the cap constrains car spending, not the total cost of going racing. Star drivers are the one arms race the regulations never closed.
Why Don’t All Drivers Earn the Same?
Because Formula 1 driver pay is a market, and a brutally small one. There are only 22 seats in the world, and bargaining power varies enormously between the people holding them.
A proven race-winner who can realistically deliver a championship commands a premium, because the difference between him and the next-best option is worth hundreds of points, and hundreds of millions in prize money and sponsorship, to the team. Rookies, by contrast, take far less to secure a seat and prove themselves, and historically some drivers further down the order brought personal sponsorship backing that effectively subsidised their own drive.
It’s a talent-and-leverage market, not a pay scale, and it explains why the money concentrates exactly where the trophies do: at the top teams, around the handful of drivers who decide championships.
There’s something to be said for seeing that concentration of talent with your own eyes. The $70 million driver and the $500,000 rookie share the same track every race weekend, separated by tenths of a second, and watching that contest live is a different experience to reading about it. If the numbers in this article have you curious about the real thing, our F1 travel packages can put you trackside for it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do F1 drivers get paid?
Reported 2026 base salaries range from around US$500,000 for rookies to US$70 million for Max Verstappen. Most of the grid earns between $1 million and $13 million, before bonuses and personal sponsorships are added.
Who is the highest-paid F1 driver in 2026?
Max Verstappen, on a reported US$70 million base salary at Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton is second at a reported $60 million with Ferrari, followed by Charles Leclerc and George Russell on $34 million each.
Who is the lowest-paid F1 driver in 2026?
Rookies Franco Colapinto and Arvid Lindblad reportedly earn the least, on deals between US$500,000 and $1 million. Even the grid’s lowest salaries comfortably exceed most professional sporting wages.
Do F1 drivers earn more than their base salary?
Yes, often substantially. Performance bonuses and personal sponsorships sit on top of base pay. Lewis Hamilton’s reported $60 million salary, for example, grows to roughly $100 million in total annual earnings once those are counted.
Do F1 driver salaries count towards the cost cap?
No. Driver salaries are explicitly excluded from F1’s cost cap. Teams can pay drivers any amount while still spending the full capped budget, around US$215 million under the 2026 rules, on the car itself.
How much does Lewis Hamilton earn at Ferrari?
Hamilton earns a reported US$60 million base salary at Ferrari in 2026. His total annual earnings, including bonuses and personal endorsements, are reported at around $100 million, making him one of sport’s highest earners.
How accurate are reported F1 salary figures?
They are informed estimates, not official numbers. Teams never publish driver contracts, so figures come from paddock sources and vary between publications. Treat every salary table, including this one, as indicative rather than exact.
