F1 Driver Salaries: How much do the stars of the sport make in 2025?

max verstappen, fernando alonso, lewis hamilton, graphic — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 Driver Salaries

F1 Driver Salaries: How much do the stars of the sport make in 2025?

Details of the current deals for every driver on the 2025 grid.

Graham Shaw Consultant Editor

Digital sports specialist running global brands for 30 years

Monday 9 June 2025 19:00

Being an F1 driver is undoubtedly one of the most glamorous jobs on the planet - but just how much do the sport's biggest names make in 2025?

The contracts and salaries that teams offer their drivers are exempt from the budget cap, meaning those at the front of the grid remain some of the highest-paid sports stars around.

Lewis Hamilton made a stunning move to Ferrari for 2025, providing another massive deal to shake up the list of current driver salaries.

F1 2025 driver salaries

Salaries for F1 drivers are notoriously difficult to pin down; there can be a range of external elements such as contract upgrades, bonuses, and sponsorships, which makes it hard to identify just how much each driver earns.

In 2022, Max Verstappen penned one of the most lucrative deals for a driver in F1 history and was financially rubbing shoulders with great rival Lewis Hamilton. In 2023 and 2024, Verstappen earned even more than Hamilton due to performance-based bonuses, but the two biggest stars still remained the sport's highest earners.

2025 title challenger Lando Norris is on a lucrative deal with McLaren, although his age and lack of proven world title pedigree means he is a way behind Verstappen and Hamilton.

Norris' team-mate and current championship leader Oscar Piastri signed a new contract with McLaren ahead of the 2025 season, and reportedly got a mammoth pay rise. Money well spent it appears by the team in papaya.

Here are the base salaries of F1 drivers, as reported by multiple credible sources, excluding any performance-based bonuses.

Driver	Team	Base salary
Max Verstappen	Red Bull	$65m
Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	$60m
Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	$34m
Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	$20m
Lando Norris	McLaren	$20m
Oscar Piastri	McLaren	$20m
George Russell	Mercedes	$15m
Carlos Sainz	Williams	$10m
Pierre Gasly	Alpine	$10m
Alex Albon	Williams	$8m
Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber	$7m
Esteban Ocon	Haas	$7m
Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	$3m
Yuki Tsunoda	Racing Bulls	$2m
Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	$2m
Gabriel Bortoleto	Sauber	$2m
Ollie Bearman	Haas	$1m
Liam Lawson	Red Bull	$1m
Jack Doohan	Alpine	<$1m
Franco Colapinto	Alpine	<$1.5m
Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls	<$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.