Hamilton confirmed as motorsport's richest star

Lewis Hamilton is officially the richest driver or rider across all of motorsport, having placed 12th in Forbes' annual countdown of the richest sporting stars on the planet. The Mercedes man earned an estimated $51million in 2017 as he secured a fourth Formula 1 world drivers' championship.

Boxing icon Floyd Mayweather Jr made a return to top spot after coming out of retirement to earn $275m in his cross-combat mega fight with UFC champion Conor McGregor, who is fourth on the list, having made $99m.

Football stars Lionel Messi ($111m) and Cristiano Ronaldo ($108m) separate the pugilistic rivals.

Hamilton was 10th in the 2017 list, but drops two places, with his close friend, Brazilian footballer Neymar and NFL quarterbacks Matt Ryan and Matthew Stafford both moving ahead.

Forbes break down Hamilton's 2017 earnings into salary and winnings payments totalling $42m, with another $9m on top in endorsements.

Hamilton is not only the highest-paid motorsport star on the list, but he is also the best-paid Briton.

Sebastian Vettel is 18th on the list, having made $42.3m in 2017, with Fernando Alonso (39th, $33m) the only other motorsports presence on the top 100 list.

Forbes suggests that Hamilton and Vettel's on-track earnings were identical in 2017, although Vettel only made $300K in endorsements, as he generally enjoys a more secluded life away from F1 in comparison to Hamilton.

FORBES' TOP 20 HIGHEST-PAID ATHLETES

1. Floyd Mayweather Jr - Boxing ($285m)
2. Lionel Messi - Football ($111m)
3. Cristiano Ronaldo - Football ($108m)
4. Conor McGregor - MMA ($99m)
5. Neymar - Football ($90m)
6. LeBron James - Basketball ($85.5m)
7. Roger Federer - Tennis ($77.2m)
8. Stephen Curry - Basketball ($76.9m)
9. Matt Ryan - American Football ($67.3m)
10. Matthew Stafford - American Football ($59.5m)
11. Kevin Durant - Basketball ($57.3m)
12. Lewis Hamilton - Motorsport ($51m)
13. Russell Westbrook - Basketball ($47.6m)
14. James Harden - Basketball ($46.4m)
15. Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez - Boxing ($44.5m)
16. Tiger Woods - Golf ($43.3m)
17. Drew Brees - American Football ($42.9m)
18. Sebastian Vettel - Motorsport ($42.3m)
19. Derek Carr - American Football ($42.1m)
20. Rafael Nadal - Tennis ($41.1m)