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Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have been the top drivers of the last decade, trading wins and championships. Although Lando Norris won the 2025 title, he arrived as a challenger only in 2024. With Hamilton and Verstappen regarded as the top drivers, it's obvious that they have the highest salaries. According to the latest reports, the Dutchman beat the seven-time F1 champion to become the highest-paid driver.
F1 drivers have always been compensated well for driving the incredible machinery at 200+ mph, facing 5+G’s, and risking their lives. However, the Drive to Survive boom, along with the increasing popularity, meant the team valuations have shot up, and so has the salary of the drivers.
Lewis Hamilton used to be the highest-paid F1 star before the title was taken away from him by Max Verstappen a couple of years ago. Going into 2025, the seven-time F1 champion signed a mega contract with Ferrari, reported to be worth more than the Dutchman's contract.
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Forbes recently came out and shared a list of the highest-paid F1 drivers, where Max Verstappen beat his former rival Lewis Hamilton and was ranked #1. Having a closer look at the numbers, it can be seen that Hamilton did have the highest base salary, but the Dutchman's bonuses from 2025 pushed him to the top of the list.
The Red Bull star has a contract with the Milton Keynes-based outfit until the end of the 2026 season. As per the reports, Verstappen has a base salary of $65M but earned $11M in bonuses, which may include factors like race wins and championship position.
Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, had a higher base salary than Verstappen at $70M, but only earned $0.5M in bonuses, likely down to the terrible season he's had with the Scuderia, where he failed to score a single podium and became the first Ferrari driver with three consecutive Q1 exits.
Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc completed the Top 5 with the 2025 champion earning $57.5M, out of which $39.5M were in bonuses.
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton's contrasting 2025 season
Lewis Hamilton made the move from Mercedes to Ferrari ahead of the 2025 season, whereas Verstappen continued with Red Bull Racing. The seven-time champion went into the season on a positive note and took the Sprint win in China. However, as the season progressed, things kept getting worse for the Briton, before the horrendous performance in the SF25 at the last three races.
Max Verstappen, on the contrary, had a poor start and struggled with the balance of the RB21, constantly complaining about it on the radio. However, after the summer break, Red Bull brought upgrades at the Italian GP, which made the car somewhat compliant, and the four-time champion started winning races again.
The Dutchman was over 100 points behind the championship leader after the Dutch GP and finished the season as the runner-up, missing out on the title by just 2 points.
