How Much Do F1 Drivers Make?

The question of Formula 1 driver salaries often appears as fans try to get a handle on the value each racer brings to their team and to compare the sport with others like football, golf, and basketball. Just like in other sports, teams are ready to invest huge figures of money in attracting the best talent to their ranks.

Factors like experience, past successes, marketability, world championships and sponsorship deals can affect a driver’s compensation package they will receive. Rookies entering the paddock for their debut year will always face the tougher task of justifying higher pay than a proven race winner or world champion.

Unlike other sports, the exact figures aren’t public, and the teams aren’t forthcoming in disclosing their financial packages for their drivers. Even websites such as Spotrac, whose primary purpose is to collate salaries, don’t have as much F1 information as they do for, say, NASCAR. Regardless, many reports generally come to the same conclusion, with newcomers’ only’ raking in around $1 million and the highest earnings far exceeding that in the $35-$55 million range.

💰 Highest Paid F1 Drivers By Team in 2023

With Formula One interest growing globally, in part thanks to Netflix’s smash-hit documentary Drive to Survive, plenty of money is reaching the top drivers’ pockets. For example, estimates put 2021 and 2022 world champion Max Verstappen’s contract at $55 million, which exceeds the reported $50 million seven-time champion Michael Schumacher earned annually from Ferrari.

However, an F1 driver can add further money to fill their purse for product endorsements and personal sponsorship. For example, Mexican driver Sergio Perez has the backing of two companies from Mexico, Telmex and Telcel, to top up his salary.

Here are the reported earnings for every 2023 Formula One driver.

🟢 Red Bull Racing

Max Verstappen – $55 million

It’s no surprise that the world champion nets the highest salary prize in F1 today. Red Bull moved to sign their Dutch ace on a long-term deal after his 2021 title. The contract means the Dutchman is one of F1’s highest earners ever and will enjoy a hefty payout each season until 2028.

🟢 Sergio Perez – $10 million

Perez faced the door of F1 in late 2020 before Red Bull added him to their roster on a deal some estimate at $6 million. The team hoped their new signing would bring consistency after multiple championship seasons where inexperienced drivers didn’t have the speed they hoped. Perez soon lived up to their expectations, and the team extended his contract until 2024 after he won in Monaco, giving him an extra pay rise, too.

🟢 Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton – $35 million

The driver with the highest number of wins, pole positions, and equal-most world championships does not have the highest salary. Still, the number of different experiences Hamilton has had in his career keeps him as the second-highest earner, some way behind Verstappen, but with a sizeable gap to his next closest challenger, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

George Russell – $8 million

The pay gap between George Russell and teammate Lewis Hamilton demonstrates the difference a career can make, no matter that they drive the same car. Although Russell has since shown his race-winning ability, triumphing at Sao Paulo’s Interlagos circuit, he hadn’t had a chance to prove he was worth more when he first signed for Mercedes for the 2022 season. He can expect a bump in salary for any future contracts.

🟢 Ferrari

Charles Leclerc – $24 million

Ferrari had nurtured Charles Leclerc well before he joined F1 in the hope that he would live up to the talent he demonstrated in junior races. Leclerc didn’t take long to impress in F1 cars, and soon graduated to Ferrari, and now has the best pay package outside of the world champions.

Carlos Sainz – $12 million

Carlos Sainz was not a race winner when he first joined Ferrari, replacing Sebastian Vettel, and his lower salary matched the results he had on the track. He is now one of the higher earners on the grid thanks to regularly bringing Ferrari points, and he got his first F1 win at Britain’s Silverstone course in 2022. Ferrari’s man from Spain will likely earn more in his next contract, although it still might not match the Charles Leclerc Ferrari deal.

🟢 McLaren

Lando Norris – $20 million

McLaren CEO Zak Brown sees a lot of promise in Lando Norris, and estimates of the British driver’s package is $20 million per year reflect that. Norris raised his stock further by outperforming the highly-rated Daniel Ricciardo of Australia on nearly all tracks in their time together, somewhat justifying a high salary. Still, he has yet to win an F1 race. However, Norris is marketable with people, and checking comments on his Instagram account, or likes on a McLaren YouTube video, will show his popularity.

Oscar Piastri – $2 million

Piastri is one of the lower-paid drivers on any list, but with 2023 being the Australian’s first year in the sport, it’s no surprise why. Unless his management team has negotiated bonuses or benefits into his first F1 contract, Piastri will rake in around $2 million in 2023 from McLaren.

🟢 Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso – $20 million

When the news broke that Sebastian Vettel would be leaving F1, it didn’t take long for another world champion to jump at the opportunity to race in the vacant seat. Aston Martin’s substantial investment in F1 has allowed them to lure two title winners to their team in succession. Although it’s over 15 years since Alonso’s last championship, the Spaniard will rake in one of F1’s higher salaries until 2024.

Lance Stroll – $2 million

Although Lance Stroll’s father owns the team he races for, information suggests Stroll is on a much lower base salary than any other driver with over six seasons of experience. Times won’t ever be too tight in the Stroll household, and the Canadian racer won’t have to worry about losing his drive while his dad owns the team, so earning a high salary won’t be as crucial as with other drivers.

🟢 Alfa Romeo

Valtteri Bottas – $10 million

Finland’s sole F1 2023 representative has earned his place in the sport’s history books with consistent podiums and occasional wins for his old Mercedes team. That’s why Alfa Romeo was happy to pay a relatively high salary for a midfield team to attract Bottas to their ranks. He might not be fighting at the front with Alfa Romeo under the current rules, but Bottas has a race car in F1 until 2025 with his deal.

Zhou Guanyu – $2 million

Many suggested Zhou’s Chinese sponsors got him to F1 rather than his skills. However, the Alfa Romeo racer surprised many of us with decent finishes, eventually finishing 18th in the final standings. Zhou might not make tens of millions like his more experienced teammate, but that might change should he surpass Bottas in the F1 order in 2023. Many a business in China would love to have the rights to the country’s only F1 driver.

🟢 Alpine

Esteban Ocon – $6 million

A curious turn of events had Ocon leaving F1 in 2019 despite a solid reputation before bouncing back in 2020. Now he has a contract until 2024 for his efforts at Alpine. Points mean prizes, they say, and it seems Ocon’s ability to score points at circuits across the calendar secured him $6 million a year for the medium-term future.

Pierre Gasly – $5 million

Red Bull limited Gasly’s access to a higher-paying contract at a different team, with them holding a multi-year option on the Frenchman’s service. With a low chance of Gasly stepping up from AlphaTauri to the Red Bull team for a second time after a brief stint in 2019, he left for Alpine for 2023, where he’ll earn $5 million annually until 2024.

🟢 Haas

Kevin Magnussen – $5 million

Haas favoured reliable and experienced hands for 2023, continuing with Kevin Magnussen on the second year of his two-year contract and adding Nico Hulkenberg. Magnussen was a known quantity to the team when he rejoined them just before the 2021 season, and he came with a slightly higher annual price tag than his teammate.

Nico Hulkenberg – $2 million

F1 veteran Nico Hulkenberg has the dubious honour of being the driver who has started the highest number of races without a podium, and his relatively low salary may reflect that. The only driver from Germany on the 2023 grid replaced Mick Schumacher after Haas wanted driver experience rather than youth for this season.

🟢 Williams

Alexander Albon – $3 million

The driver from Thailand returned to F1 in 2022 after an unwanted time away from the sport and impressed Williams enough to offer him a contract extension into 2024. So although his income isn’t at Lewis Hamilton Mercedes levels, Albon will be content to know he has a future in F1 with the United Kingdom team.

Logan Sargeant – $1 million

Sources place America’s first F1 driver since 2015 at around $1 million. With F1’s marketability in the USA growing, Sargeant may find he could become one of the sport’s stars as F1 races around Miami, Las Vegas, and Austin. If tickets sell because of Sargeant, he may find he can ask for a bigger share of the pie, especially if he laps with speed, too.

🟢 AlphaTauri

Nyck de Vries – $2 million

There aren’t many F1 drivers who have raced in many other forms of motorsport, and de Vries is the only FIA world champion of another championship. After switching from the electric racing series, the Formula E ace fulfilled his lifelong dream of joining F1 in 2023. If he shows the same speeds he produced in his championship-winning year at the wheel of the Mercedes-EQ team, the Dutchman might find he can demand more money.

Yuki Tsunoda – $1 million

Tsunoda may have three years in F1, but the Japanese driver has not sufficiently impressed the Red Bull hand that feeds that he’s worthy of a higher-paying contract. Honda, whose investments helped Tsunoda reach F1, would love to see a driver from Japan succeed. Rookie errors, like his crash in the 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, are less frequent, but Tsunoda must use all his skills should he want to earn more money and repay Honda’s faith.

🔽 Which F1 Driver Has the Lowest Salary?

Logan Sargeant and Yuki Tsunoda have the joint-lowest salary in F1. Sargeant is a rookie in the sport for 2023 and is racing for Williams, a team with a lower budget than many rivals. Tsunoda, meanwhile, is tied to Red Bull’s F1 project and has not sufficiently impressed his bosses in his two seasons of racing so far to receive a higher remuneration. AlphaTauri also does not have as high a budget as its sister team, Red Bull.

🏎️ How Much Are F1 Pit Crew Paid?

Like driver salaries, wages for a Formula One pit crew will vary greatly depending on the team and the crew member’s experience. On average, a mechanic will earn around $60-$70,000 per year but will also claim significant expenses for the high amount of travel they must do.

Although the most visible part of the pit crew’s role is to perform a pit stop, they work extremely long hours and must possess a broad knowledge of car mechanics and engineering. The crew practises countless pit stops on the race cars and must know how to fix a rear wing, troubleshoot problems with acceleration, plus be ready to jump into action to give their driver an advantage in a race. Unlike a driver’s salary, a pit crew’s salary falls under F1’s cost cap limit. That is $135 million for 2023, with sizable fines for any team that breaches that financial line.