F1 Driver Salaries: How much Hamilton, Verstappen & co earn in 2026

Lewis Hamilton smiles in a Ferrari uniform with a background of bank notes — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 Driver Salaries

F1 Driver Salaries: How much Hamilton, Verstappen & co earn in 2026

Some eyewatering figures!

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 10 April 2026 12:57 Updated: 12:28

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F1 drivers' elite skill and willingness to risk it all are rewarded by their teams, with each outfit able to offer their drivers as much as they want without affecting the cost cap.

The enhanced spending power of the biggest teams in the sport is why the best drivers tend to find themselves at one of the big four teams of Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull or McLaren at some stage in their career.

Driver salaries change year-on-year, even within the same contract, as multi-year deals often include some sort of pay rise as the years go on.

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Max Verstappen remains the highest-paid F1 driver in 2026, with Lewis Hamilton second, although of course that does not necessarily mean that they earn the most, with all drivers these days having bonuses and a plethora of sponsors that will also be paying them money, not to mention if they own their own businesses away from the track.

But, what does an F1 driver's pay packet look like for an average month? What's their base salary? Keep reading to find out!

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How much do F1 drivers earn in 2026?

Here are the base salaries of F1 drivers, as reported by multiple credible sources, excluding any performance-based bonuses, team bonuses, and personal sponsors with brands.

Driver	Team	Base salary
Max Verstappen	Red Bull	$70m
Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	$60m
Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	$34m
George Russell	Mercedes	$34m
Lando Norris	McLaren	$30m
Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	$20m
Oscar Piastri	McLaren	$13m
Carlos Sainz	Williams	$13m
Pierre Gasly	Alpine	$12m
Alex Albon	Williams	$12m
Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	$12m
Sergio Perez	Cadillac	$8m
Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	$7m
Esteban Ocon	Haas	$7m
Isack Hadjar	Red Bull	$5m
Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	$5m
Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	$2m
Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	$2m
Ollie Bearman	Haas	$1m
Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	$1m
Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	<$1m
Franco Colapinto	Alpine	<$1m

Does the F1 budget cap affect driver salaries?

Quite simply, it doesn't.

As mentioned, driver salaries are kept separate from the budget cap. Indeed the salaries of the three highest-paid employees are exempt, which in virtually all cases will include the team principals as well.

Other items which are kept exempt include marketing costs and utility bills incurred by the teams.

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F1 Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton Lando Norris Fernando Alonso