Lewis Hamilton surpasses Michael Schumacher in F1 career earnings

Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton surpasses Schumacher in F1 career earnings

He's closing in on half a BILLION.

Paul Macdonald

Sunday 7 April 2019 14:15 Updated: 14:23

Lewis Hamilton's earnings from F1 have surpassed the legendary Michael Schumacher for this first time, according to figures published by Forbes.

The five-time world champion has earned £375m from the sport in just his driver salary alone, and the number is significantly more when endorsements and sponsorship deals are taken into consideration.

However, when total earnings are taken into account Schumacher remains in front, having amassed total revenue in the region of £610m during his time on the track.

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Hamilton is currently the highest-paid driver on the grid, collecting £30m per year from Mercedes, ahead of Sebastian Vettel who is paid £23m per year by Ferrari.

In the all-time driver's earnings list Hamilton and Schumacher are tracked by Fernando Alonso in third, before a gap to Vettel in fourth and Kimi Raikkonen in fifth.

Further down the list sees former world champions Jenson Button and Jacques Villeneuve.

With the size of Hamilton's current deal and assuming for a rise if he stays at Mercedes beyond the end of his contract, the Brit could easily earn half a billion pounds from the sport before he retires.

The list, courtesy of Forbes, is as follows:

ALL-TIME F1 DRIVER EARNINGS

1. Lewis Hamilton £375m
2. Michael Schumacher £356m
3. Fernando Alonso £351m
4. Sebastian Vettel £275m
5. Kimi Raikkonen £254m
6. Jenson Button £112m
7. Ralf Schumacher £93m
8. Jacques Villeneuve £88m
9. Felipe Massa £84m
=. Rubens Barrichello £84m