Are F1 drivers underpaid? Why Max Verstappen's $70m should be more

Verstappen at the Nurburgring — Photo: © IMAGO

Max Verstappen

Are F1 drivers underpaid? Why Max Verstappen's $70m should be more

Verstappen is worth far more than he is currently paid in F1

Originally written by Kerry Violet. This version is a translation.

Monday 20 April 2026 23:00

Max Verstappen is F1's leading star and one of the biggest names in global sport, not just motorsport.

While the Dutchman hasn't matched Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher on seven world titles, his star power is undeniable.

You don't need to look any further than his NLS antics to see just what having Verstappen on the grid can do for a racing series, and frankly, Formula 1 are underpaying him and his fellow stars of the 2026 championship for their services.

Article continues under video

Now I know what you're thinking, are you really lobbying for F1 drivers to make even more (usually tax-free) money than they already do?

Yes. Yes I am. They're F1 drivers, who can blame them for wanting to benefit from Monaco's famous tax breaks? But here's why Verstappen and Co. actually deserve to earn even more than their current pay packages.

Verstappen single-handedly keeping Red Bull and F1 afloat

As of 2026, Cristiano Ronaldo remains the highest-paid footballer in history, with his 2023 move from Manchester United to Al-Nassr securing him a reported annual salary of £177m. And that eye-watering figure is before you even take into consideration the sponsorship millions he is sure to be bringing in off the pitch.

It is hardly a controversial statement to say that football is a far less dangerous sport than F1, so why should the likes of Verstappen and Hamilton be paid a fraction of Ronaldo's wages?

That's before we've even had a discussion about legacy and impact on the sport's global reputation. Before Drive to Survive, F1 had Hamilton. The now 41-year-old is on a base salary of $60m with Ferrari this season, which puts him second on the 2026 list of F1's highest earners and $10m less than Verstappen. After two decades in the sport, seven world titles and the immense marketing power that the Brit boasts, that hardly seems proportionate.

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are the highest earners in F1 2026, but should they be paid more?

Let’s return to Schumacher. The Ferrari icon was earning $30m APY way back in the mid-1990s, and that was in the days of a 16-race calendar. For Verstappen to only be on $70m some 30 years later and be expected to perform at the highest level for 24 scheduled race weekends just simply doesn’t align with today's economy.

For context, a Freddo cost just 10p in 1995, but every economists favourite inflation indicator would now set you back 45p. That's a 350 per cent increase.

Now, I'm hardly saying that Red Bull should cough up 315 million USD for their star driver. However, the fact is that when you take into account the four championships to Verstappen's name, the fiercely loyal fanbase he brings with him, and the 3,456.50 championship points he has earned for both of the energy drink giant's F1 teams since 2015, he should be aiming for at least $100m.

This is made even more evident by the fact that the now 28-year-old was responsible for 74.2 per cent of Red Bull's championship points in 2024, in the same year that saw him win his fourth consecutive drivers' title.

Verstappen has been the face of Red Bull for years now and if we're being honest, Formula 1 as a whole. If Verstappen carries out these threats of retirement, F1 would surely be set to lose a significant chunk of income.

The sport has peaked in recent years due to the meteoric rise of DTS but this begs the question whether the money Liberty Media are bringing in is trickling down to the stars of the show as effectively as it should?

Instead of retiring from F1 altogether before his Red Bull contract is up in 2028, Verstappen should be looking to reset the driver market and set a new precedent for how much F1 teams are expected to pay their top drivers.

He's said he doesn't care about money but for the good of the sport, the Dutchman must activate his release clause this summer and have the other 10 teams on the grid scrambling over one another to snap him up.

What's preventing multi-million salary boost for F1 stars?

Verstappen loves to race, that much is clear. He has maintained that he doesn't compete in F1 purely because of the financial benefits, but perhaps the fact that neither he nor his racing colleagues are paid anywhere near a footballer's salary indicates that the sport has a wider issue where revenue is not growing as it needs to, to support much larger pay packages?

After all, driver salaries are exempt from the F1 cost cap, a crucial detail to consider when asking the question of why drivers are putting their lives on the line for less than $100m to compete in the pinnacle of motorsport.

If we look at US media rights for example, Apple are paying $150m per year to take over ESPN's F1 broadcasting rights across the pond. In contrast, the NFL US rights package is $11bn and could be about to go even further beyond that as renegotiations take place.

So is it conceivable that maybe F1 simply doesn't make enough from TV? Liberty Media have been praised for growing the sport's global presence since bursting onto the scene in 2017, but a quick look at some of the more globally successful sports like Football, both American and International, tells you that there is a positive correlation between an athlete's increasing wage and the success of their sport on the world's stage.

Every year it becomes a discussion that the real money in F1 comes from the constructors' championship, not the drivers' title. So yes, Verstappen may be in it for the thrill of winning, but Red Bull hire him to chase the top financial prize in the team battle.

This highlights that Verstappen, Hamilton and in fact all F1 drivers are employees, yet they aren't being suitably compensated for their work.

How much do F1 drivers earn in 2026?

Here are the base salaries of F1 drivers, as reported by multiple credible sources, excluding any performance-based bonuses, team bonuses, and personal sponsors with brands.

Driver	Team	Base salary
Max Verstappen	Red Bull	$70m
Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	$60m
Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	$34m
George Russell	Mercedes	$34m
Lando Norris	McLaren	$30m
Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	$20m
Oscar Piastri	McLaren	$13m
Carlos Sainz	Williams	$13m
Pierre Gasly	Alpine	$12m
Alex Albon	Williams	$12m
Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	$12m
Sergio Perez	Cadillac	$8m
Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	$7m
Esteban Ocon	Haas	$7m
Isack Hadjar	Red Bull	$5m
Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	$5m
Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	$2m
Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	$2m
Ollie Bearman	Haas	$1m
Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	$1m
Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	<$1m
Franco Colapinto	Alpine	<$1m

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

View full biography

F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen