F1 Driver Salaries: Norris set to overtake Hamilton as '$70m contract talks' revealed

Lando Norris could be about to overtake Lewis Hamilton in F1's 2026 pay scale with the reigning world champion reportedly in talks with McLaren about a blockbuster new contract.

The dust is still settling in the affluent surroundings of Monaco (where most of the drivers live of course) after Max Verstappen reset the market with his massive Red Bull extension last Thursday.

The extension, through to 2030, will pay Verstappen a reported $107million per season - a record payday for an F1 driver by some distance. It takes him well clear of Ferrari superstar Lewis Hamilton ($60million APY) in second place.

Now the seven-time world champion could be about to lose P2 in the salary standings with the 26-year-old Norris reportedly in talks with McLaren about a new deal.

READ MORE: Max Verstappen told to block Lambiase McLaren transfer: 'Money changes everything'

No Verstappen, but McLaren can focus on Norris now

With a move for Verstappen now obviously off the table, the team in papaya can concentrate on ensuring that Norris stays with them for the long-term

F1 insider Marc Limacher claims that talks between McLaren and Norris began at the end of June about a new deal worth $70million per season. He also claims the new deal would kick in from 2027.

Once Norris is signed, sealed and delivered for the long run, the next big question for McLaren would be the future of Oscar Piastri. The Australian currently earns a reported $13million but his stock has fallen somewhat since he led the championship standings at the 2025 summer break.

The 25-year-old Piastri was recently linked with a move to Red Bull in what would have been effectively a straight swap had Verstappen joined McLaren. He, his management team and McLaren all claimed though that there were was no chance of him moving.

F1 Driver Salaries 2026

The latest driver salaries on August 26, 2026 look like this:

Do F1 driver salaries count against the sport's cost cap?

Important point here - driver salaries DO NOT count against the $215million cost cap every team operates under in 2026.

Driver salaries, plus the top three salaries in the team and some other areas sit outside the cap. This means teams can try to hire the best drivers without impacting their ability to develop a winning car.

This means teams are totally free to spend whatever they want on signing drivers without impacting the money they have to spend on car development.

The only pressure of course comes from their own financial performance. But with the sport booming commercially and the cap helping keep costs down, that is less of a concern than it ever has been.

READ MORE: Mercedes and McLaren just gave Red Bull wings with a $500million Max Verstappen transfer mistake

Written by

Graham Shaw - Consultant Editor

Digital sports leader with 30 years of senior level experience running global brands. Built sportinglife.com to be a behemoth in the UK as well as being in charge of the Planet Sport network of sites including planetf1.com, football365.com, teamtalk.com and planetrugby.com. Then grew goal.com to be the world's biggest soccer website in 18 languages and 37 territories. Was GM of Portals for Perform Group (now DAZN) with overall responsibility for sportingnews.com, spox.de and voetbalzone.nl.

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