Formula 1’s Highest-Paid Drivers 2024

Forbes

Max Verstappen rules F1 on the track and at the bank as the sport’s 10 top earners collected an estimated $317 million in salary and bonus this year.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brettknight/2024/12/10/formula-1s-highest-paid-drivers-2024/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, Formula One's Highest Paid Drivers 2024.

00:06After racing to the most dominant season in Formula One history in 2023,

00:11with 19 wins in 22 Grand Prix races, Max Verstappen faced a much stiffer challenge this year,

00:18capturing the Drivers' Championship by a relatively meagre 63 points in the standings.

00:23When it comes to his paychecks, however, Red Bull Racing's 27-year-old star

00:28is extending his lead on the field.

00:31For the third straight year, Verstappen is F1's highest paid driver on the track,

00:36with estimated 2024 earnings of $75 million, including a series-record $60 million in salary,

00:43to go with $15 million in performance bonuses.

00:47That puts him $18 million ahead of his long-time rival, Lewis Hamilton, of Mercedes,

00:52who made an estimated $55 million in salary and $2 million in bonuses at age 39,

00:58and widens the gap from $15 million in 2023 and $5 million in 2022.

01:05McLaren's Lando Norris, who claimed the first four Grand Prix victories of his career this year

01:10and threatened Verstappen for the championship, sprinted to third in the earnings race,

01:15with an estimated $35 million, up from sixth, and $15 million last year.

01:21The 25-year-old Brit signed a contract extension in January

01:25that is believed to have boosted his salary to $12 million, according to Forbes estimates,

01:30more than double his number from 2023.

01:33But the big difference was his roughly $23 million in bonuses this year.

01:39F1 driver compensation figures are rarely made publicly available,

01:43but contracts are typically understood to link pay directly to on-track performance.

01:48An established driver at a top team will generally receive a large guaranteed salary,

01:53plus bonuses for race victories or a championship.

01:56Drivers who have less experience or race for smaller teams tend to receive smaller salaries

02:02but can get significant bonuses for winning races or securing points in the standings.

02:07Unlike Forbes' lists of the highest-paid players in, say, soccer or the NBA,

02:13the F1 earnings ranking excludes endorsement income,

02:17focusing solely on the sport's salaries and bonuses.

02:20This is in large part because drivers' obligations to their teams

02:23and their team's sponsors leave them little room to chase many personal deals.

02:28Verstappen, for instance, made an estimated $5 million from his business endeavors

02:33over the 12 months ending in May, nowhere near what some other global sports stars

02:38hauled in on Forbes' 2024 list of the world's highest-paid athletes.

02:43The drivers aren't exactly hurting, though.

02:46Combined, Formula One's top 10 earners raked in $317 million on the track in 2024,

02:53according to Forbes estimates, a 23% increase over 2023's $258 million

02:59and the best mark in the four-year history of Forbes' F1 earnings ranking.

03:04Two main factors are driving up salaries.

03:07First, F1 has never been bigger,

03:09with the series' central revenue hitting $3.2 billion in 2023,

03:14up 25% from the previous year,

03:16according to owner Liberty Media's annual earnings release.

03:20That means more prize money for the 10 teams on the grid,

03:23which are also seeing improved sponsorship opportunities.

03:27The influx of cash is pushing up the value of the teams

03:30to an average of $1.88 billion in Forbes' most recent ranking,

03:34while also giving them more to spend on their drivers.

03:38Meanwhile, drivers are getting a lift from the series' cost cap,

03:41which was introduced in 2021.

03:43The system limits how much teams can devote to designing and building their cars,

03:48but driver compensation is omitted from the budget calculation,

03:51giving the wealthiest teams one area where they can still spend extravagantly

03:55to differentiate themselves from their rivals.

03:59Expect next year's F1 ranking to continue the upward trend

04:02after a flurry of signings and extensions around the paddock.

04:05That includes Charles Leclerc,

04:07who inked a new deal with Ferrari in January

04:10that is believed to come with a big raise for 2025.

04:13It also includes his new teammate, Hamilton,

04:16who shocked the racing world when he announced in February

04:19that he would leave Mercedes for the prancing horse next year.

04:23Forbes estimates the contract will catapult him back ahead of Verstappen

04:27to set an F1 salary record.

04:30For full coverage and to see the whole list,

04:33check out Brett Knight's piece on Forbes.com.

04:37This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:40Thanks for tuning in.

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