Formula 1 is one of the best paid sports thanks to the injection of capital that the teams receive in advertising. For this reason, the best teams pose together with the best brands in each Grand Prix of the year, as is the case with Ferrari y Hublot o Red Bull y Tag Heuer. With the new regulation change and the exchange of several drivers with different teams, we are going to review how the ranking of the best-paid drivers on the 2022 grid is found.
Lewis Hamilton
The eight-time world champion is in first position as the driver with the best earnings on the 2022 grid. The contract he has with Mercedes It is around approximately 35 million dollars and thus heads the ranking. The difference with the last one on the list is disproportionate, but the reality is that Lewis Hamilton has broken all the records in this motorsport discipline.
Max Verstappen
The reigning F1 world champion is in second place in the ranking of the best paid drivers. After achieving its dream of lifting the world champion trophy, the Austrian team did not hesitate for a second to shield its star until 2028, with a millionaire contract that surpasses the rest of the drivers. Max’s salary with Red Bull It is 21.9 million dollars per season, this without counting what he charges for advertising, when going to part.
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso stands on the podium as the third highest paid driver. The Spaniard earns around 20 million dollars, some sources point to 17.5, but the truth is that in his first year he earned 22 million, as Verstappen, establishing approximately 20 million a year between the two seasons he has been with Alpine. On August 1, his departure to Aston Martin signing a multi-year contract, and it is still unknown how much he will charge. The first sources indicate that the Spaniard will lose something in his salary when he begins to receive 15 million, but today, this season, he is third, earning about 20 million dollars.
Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo
Vettel and Ricciardo They share the fourth and fifth position in the ranking by earning the two 15 million per season. Seb y Ric They are already veterans on the grid, their driving and fame have placed them in the top five of the best paid, although their seasons are to forget. Vettel will leave F1 at the end of the season while Ricciardo continues to have doubts about his continuity in the head.
Charles Leclerc
The Monegasque driver is the sixth highest paid on the grid, earning a salary of 12 million per season. The pilot ‘Ferrari brand’ He has been with the Italian team for many years, adding also the years in the academies, and that makes him have a good salary since they bet everything on the Monaco driver. This year’s competitive car and his improvement behind the wheel may increase salary for years to come.
Carlos Sainz, Valtteri Bottas y Lance Stroll
Triple tie for the seventh, eighth and ninth position between Sainz, Bottas and Stroll when all three received around 10 million dollars. In the case of Carlos, who signed a new contract in May, his exact new salary is still unknown, but it is noted that it would exceed 10 million, leaving Bottas and Stroll behind. Among the remaining two, Bottas is in a team inferior to Mercedes, but his prestige as a driver allows him to continue earning well, while Strollis the right eye of the team having as owner nothing more and nothing less than his father.
Sergio Perez and Lando Norris
Czech and Lando They are positioned in the tenth and eleventh position having a similar salary after the Mexican renewed and began to collect about 9.5 million. The salary of both pilots is around 10 million dollars and they are in the middle of the table of highest paid pilots, yes, charging less than their teammates.
George Russell, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly
The three young pilots earn approximately 5 million dollars and share the 13th, 14th and 15th position in the ranking. For the Briton, in his first year at Mercedes, it is a more than reasonable salary for the driver who came from Williams. On the other hand, both Frenchmen have been with the team for several years and are more than settled in terms of continuity and salary. As long as the performance of both is maintained, they will continue to charge around five million per season.
Alex Albon
Albon’s return to F1 at the hands of Williams makes him 16th highest paid driver. The Thai driver, from the Red Bull academy, has signed for the British team and earns about 2 million euros per season, a considerable outlay for a team that cannot spend more than that on salary for its drivers.
Guanyu Zhou, Mick Schumacher y Nicholas Latifi
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Zhou in his first year of F1 earns 1 million dollars just like Schumacher and Latifi. Between the three they share the 17th, 18th and 19th highest paid drivers. The difference with those above is overwhelming, but in this sport, in the end, what you earn depends on what you generate, and although they are fulfilling their sport this season, their team cannot pay more than 1 million for their drivers, since they prioritize in the car.
Yuki Tsunoda
The Japanese closes this list as the driver who earns the least on the 2022 grid. Tsunoda does not earn more than 1 million dollars, although the figure is close to it, around 800,000 thousand dollars. the pilot of Alpha Taurus He is still on trial for the team in this second year with them, although his contract ends this year, everything indicates that he will continue in the Red Bull subsidiary for the next few seasons.