Lewis Hamilton will get NOTHING if he wins F1 title but Ferrari could pocket over $275m

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F1 Analysis

Lewis Hamilton will get NOTHING if he wins F1 title but Ferrari could pocket over $275m

Drivers' title is all just vibes

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Thursday 28 May 2026 12:57

There will be plenty of celebration at Ferrari if they win both world championships this year, something they haven't done since 2007.

Back then it would have seemed unthinkable that F1's most famous team would go at least 18 years (up to now) without winning both titles, considering in 2007 they had done it five times in the previous seven seasons.

But we are not talking just about doubles either. They haven't won a world championship since Kimi Raikkonen's 2007 win and have since only added the 2008 constructors' championship to their honour board. At 17 years, this is Ferrari's longest drought of failing to win a world title since the inception of the F1 championship in 1950 - with last year breaking the 16-year record held between 1983 and 1999.

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So of course there will be a massive party if Lewis Hamilton wins his record eighth title this season, but if you think the drivers' title is the main focus in the F1 paddock you will be very much mistaken.

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Drivers' title just for fans

F1 supporters tend to favour a driver and thus have a lot more interest in the drivers' championship. Ok, Italian fans support Ferrari but they still just want one of the team's drivers to win a world title rather than the constructors'.

Inside the paddock it's a different story. The teams pride themselves on the constructors' championship but there is more at play than just glory.

Former F1 team boss Otmar Szafnauer revealed how for team employees, the constructors' title is the holy grail

He told the High Performance podcast: "I used to tell the drivers they're one of 1200 employees, and the other 1200 care about the constructors' championship. The big teams have about 1200 employees now, and they're all pushing for the constructors' world championship. All the aero guys, the aero work that goes in the power train people, they don't care which driver, apart from if you're at Ferrari, they care more about the drivers' championship."

Former Ferrari race engineer Rob Smedley on the same podcast admitted that Ferrari do take a shine towards the drivers' championship because of its influence on the outside world which they value higher than other teams.

He said: "Ferrari, there is this special myth about what I would call it an external perception of the world championships. Inside Formula One, it's all about the constructors', outside to the fans, it's all about the [drivers] world championship.

"In Ferrari, it's a bit more of a mix. They do very much covet the drivers' world championship, but they're also quite like winning the constructors and the cash and the accolades that comes with it."

Do F1 drivers' world champions earn prize money?

Now here's the kicker, the financial incentives are huge for Ferrari but not for the drivers' title. If Hamilton wins the championship, neither he nor Ferrari get a single penny for it from owners Liberty Media.

Lando Norris's prize money for winning the drivers' world title in 2025? Zero

How is F1 prize money distributed?

However if Ferrari win the constructors' championship this season they stand to pocket over $275million in total prize money. Some of this admittedly comes from the Concorde Agreement. Ferrari's special status in F1 earns them five per cent of all prize money (woo, go meritocracy!) and that could even ramp up to 10 per cent if the total prize pool exceeds $1.6billion. In 2025, that was $1.4bn as total revenues hit $3.87bn.

Now the prize money varies each year according to how much money Liberty Media pocket, so predicting 2026 prize money is difficult. However, with Cadillac now on the grid there is a bit more of a split (now you know why teams are resistant to grids of over 20 cars).

F1 2025 Prize Money Payments
Position	Team	Prize Money
1	Ferrari	$277.7m
2	Mercedes	$230.8m
3	Red Bull	$202.9m
4	McLaren	$165.8m
5	Aston Martin	$109.3m
6	Alpine	$99.9m
7	Haas	$91.5m
8	Racing Bulls	$82m
9	Williams	$77.2m
10	Sauber	$63.1m

Ferrari though were fourth in the constructors' championship in 2025 and should they win that title this year and Liberty Media's financial results hold up, they can expect an even bigger payout than $275m.

Other factors in the prize money that put the constructors as a priority for teams include teams like Red Bull and Mercedes who are given sporting bonuses for sustained success.

The rest of the prize money is then split between 11 teams in proportion of constructors' championship finish. This can see the champions picking up 14 per cent of prize money (as an estimate) with the 11th places team earning six per cent.

Can drivers get F1 prize money?

While drivers don't get a single penny from Liberty Media, they can still get their hands on the prize money the team receive if they can negotiate it in their contract. Obviously this is much easier to do if you are Max Verstappen or Hamilton than say a driver who is paying to be on the grid.

This obsession with the constructors' championship may sound mad to the average F1 fan. But think of it like this. If you supported a driver and their world championship win earned you nothing but some warm fuzzies of seeing them succeed, would you really prefer that to seeing that drivers' team win the constructors' championship and you get paid $275million. Money talks.

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Written by

Dan Ripley - Global Editor

I've been a massive F1 fan since the mid 1990s and continue to study the history of the sport long before that. As an experienced motor sport reporter covering F1, MotoGP and the LeMans 24 Hour race, being part of GPFans has allowed me to work with a diverse team with all sorts of different backgrounds in watching the sport and given me a greater appreciation of F1.

View full biography

F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Liberty Media