How much F1 drivers earn in 2026 and what each team pays

Formula 1 is the sport in which a driver's salary is furthest from his team-mate's. On the 2026 grid, drivers who earn tens of millions of dollars a year coexist with debutants who barely reach one. That inequality is the first conclusion of any salary table, and the second is that almost everything we know is an estimate: teams do not publish contracts and the media work with leaks, databases and their own calculations.

We have taken as a base the count that RacingNews365 and other outlets summarise for 2026 (base salary, without bonuses or personal sponsorships) and cross-checked it with GPFans, PlanetF1, F1Salaries and SalaryLeaks. Where the sources differ, we show the range. And we have added up each team's salaries ourselves to see how much each pays its two drivers.

The big salaries: Verstappen, Hamilton, Leclerc and Russell

Max Verstappen heads the table with about $70 million base, although published figures run from 65 to 110: the top end corresponds to reports of a renewal with a much higher salary that we have not been able to confirm. Lewis Hamilton is second with about $60 million at Ferrari, with estimates of 50 to 70 depending on source. Further down are Charles Leclerc and George Russell, with about $34 million each, and Lando Norris, with about 30, although some sources put him at 18-20 million plus bonuses.

Fernando Alonso earns around $20 million at Aston Martin (up to 24 according to other sources), and there are unconfirmed reports of a larger contract. Behind them come Sainz, Piastri, Gasly, Albon and Stroll, who are around 12 or 13 million.

The middle class and the youngsters

From there, salaries fall quickly: Pérez earns about $8 million (some sources say between 5 and 10), Hülkenberg and Ocon about 7, Hadjar and Bottas about 5. The youngest are at the low end: Bortoleto and Antonelli about 2 million, and Bearman, Lawson, Colapinto and Lindblad around one or less. In Antonelli's case, one source adds about $7.5 million in bonuses, a reminder that base salary is only one part of what a driver earns.

What each team pays

Adding each team's two salaries, Ferrari is the one that spends the most on drivers, about $94 million between Hamilton and Leclerc. Next come Red Bull (about 75, almost all Verstappen's), McLaren (about 43), Mercedes (about 36) and Aston Martin (about 32). At the other end, Haas spends about $8 million and Racing Bulls less than two. It is our own sum from the estimates, not an official figure.

Altogether, the base salaries of the 22 drivers add up to between $324 and $349 million depending on source (over 360 in another database), with an average of about $16 million per driver. For comparison, each team's cost cap in 2026 is $215 million, from which drivers' salaries are excluded.

Why these figures should be read with caution

A driver's contract usually includes a base salary, bonuses for results and titles, and benefits tied to personal sponsors. Databases almost always record only the base salary, which is why the same driver appears with very different figures depending on whether bonuses are counted. One source, for example, lists Norris with $18 million salary plus $39.5 million in bonuses, a total far above the "salary" the table shows. If you need an exact figure to quote, always check the original source.