After plenty of speculation over the past few months about his future, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes finally agreed a new one-year deal yesterday.
The seven-time world champion had been out of contract since January 1, but has now committed to the Mercedes outfit for another season at least. The new deal makes him the highest-paid driver on the grid by some distance.
Hamilton dwarfs his teammate Valtteri Bottas’ salary by a cool £34m. He is still paid almost double his nearest rival on the grid Max Verstappen.
Charles Leclerc, the promising Ferrari driver, and the experienced Daniel Ricciardo are tied in third place, with both picking up a cool £10.19m per year from Ferrari and McLaren respectively.
Leclerc’s teammate at Ferrari Carlos Sainz and four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, starting his first season at Aston Martin, complete the top six with them both earning £7.28m per year from their respective teams.
Fernando Alonso, widely thought of as one of the finest drivers of his generation, alongside Hamilton, is in seventh place. Hamilton’s teammate Bottas is down in eighth place.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Alfa Romeo complete the top 10 list with £4.37m and £3.64m respectively.
Top 10 driver salaries in 2021
1) Lewis Hamilton: Mercedes – £40m
2) Max Verstappen: Red Bull – £18.2m
3) Charles Leclerc: Ferrari – £10.19m
4) Daniel Ricciardo: McLaren – £10.19m
5) Carlos Sainz: Ferrari – £7.28m
6) Sebastian Vettel: Aston Martin – £7.28m
7) Fernando Alonso: Alpine – £6.55m
8) Valtteri Bottas: Mercedes – £5.82m
9) Sergio Perez: Red Bull – £4.37m
10) Kimi Raikkonen: Alfa Romeo – £3.64m
