Top 10 Richest F1 Drivers and Their Net Worths in 2023

Formula 1 is the biggest international event for open-wheel car racing. It makes sense that the best drivers of the competition get a high salary. You will be shocked to see the top 10 richest F1 drivers & net worths. Some of them are worth more than a hundred million!

The salary of an F1 driver depends on several thighs. The performance, experience, budget of the team, and marketability are some of the factors that influence the salary. Depending on these criteria, a driver can earn millions a year. Besides, they earn money through sponsorship and endorsements.

So, how rich can an F1 driver become? You will soon learn about the ten wealthiest drivers of F1. They are popular, expert drivers and, most importantly, multi-millionaires.

Top 10 Richest F1 Drivers & Net Worths In 2023

1. Michael Schumacher

The seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher tops our list. The German racer has a net worth of 600 million! It makes him not only the richest F1 driver but also the wealthiest racing driver in the world.

Schumacher had a very successful racing career. He won seven world championships. He was born in  North Rhine-Westphalia. His driving practice began when he was only four years old. Soon he showed great talent and was admitted to a driving school.

Schumacher had his first big race in 1991 in the Belgian Grand Prix. He won the race the following year. He showed dominance on the track from the very beginning of his racing career. He earned many championships, awards, and honors throughout his career.

Being a multi times champ, naturally, Schumacher had a high salary. Moreover, he was very popular among the fans. This earned him many endorsements and sponsors. He was also a great draw for merchandise sales. In short, his popularity as a driver helped him to be at the top of the list.

Career Stats for Formula One World Championship

2. Lewis Hamilton

Next, we have Lewis Hamilton. The British F1 driver is one of the most popular racers today. His skill and talent on the wheel earned him the love of the fans.

Hamilton was born in Hertfordshire, England. Hamilton joined a racing club at a very early age. He was the youngest in the club and so was often bullied. But his father always supported and motivated him in racing. He began karting in 1993 and won many competitions within a very short time.

It was evident that the boy had a great future in racing. He kept driving for the next several years. Finally, he got to race in Formula 1 in 2007. Since then, Hamilton never had to look back. So far, he has started 313 races and won 103 of them. In addition, he has seven championships to his name.

Being a champion, he surely gets a high salary and a lot of endorsement offers and sponsorships. He takes the second position of the top 10 richest F1 drivers in 2023 with a net worth of $285 million.

Career Stats for Formula One World Championship

3. Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso ranks third among the top 10 richest F1 drivers. His net worth amounts totally $260 million. He is extremely popular among F1 fans. His look, talent, skill, and an impressive career earned him such popularity. He has won two world championships so far.

Alonso is from Spain, where he was born in 1981. His father was an amateur racer who motivated him to drive. Alonso might have become a soccer player otherwise. He received a goalkeeper position offer from a local club, which his father rejected.

Alonso made his professional racing debut in 1997. He was only seventeen then but already had learned a lot. He received an offer to compete in the F1 as a team member of Renault. It did not take Alonso much time to make an impression. He won his first race in 2003.

Alonso has made a lot of money from racing. Most of his money comes from winning different competitions and championships. He has started more than three hundred races and has won thirty-two races. He has recorded 2091 career points.

Career Stats for Formula One World Championship

4. Kimi Raikkonen

Kimi Raikkonen has cemented his position amongst the top 10 richest F1 drivers with a $250 million net worth. He retired from racing in 2021, but that does not make any difference. He is still one of the wealthiest racing drivers.

Raikkonen was born in Espoo, Finland. He earned a good reputation in his teenage years. Raikkonen competed in his first-ever international competition outside Finland when he was fifteen years old. Soon, he was recruited by Sauber to drive in Formula One.

Raikkonen showed great improvement in his rookie years. It took him two years to have his first win. Soon, he began to take wins more frequently. Raikkonen started 353 races before retiring in 2021. Still, he is so popular with the fans. Companies want him to endorse their products as he has a high face value.

You see, having a successful career in F1 can open several doors for you to earn money. You will be rich, very rich.

Career Stats for Formula One World Championship

5. Max Verstappen

Our next rich driver’s name is Max Verstappen, who is only twenty-six years old. He is the youngest one on this list. How does he make the list at such an early age? Well, the Dutch racer is a star. He started driving in Formula 1 in 2015 and has already won two championships.

Verstappen was born in Hasselt, Belgium, in a racing family. His father is a former F1 driver, and her mother was in karting. He grew a love for driving from his family. His father was always very supportive and encouraging regarding this.

Verstappen won the Belgian championship when he was only nine years old! He was a prodigy that everyone believed would become a great driver. He even competed in Formula 1 before turning eighteen. He also achieved his first win in F1 in 2016.

You can guess that the prodigy impressed everyone very quickly. It generated much marketing value for him. Besides, Verstappen is one of the most handsome F1 drivers at present. Millions of young ladies are dying for him. He has huge popularity on social media too. He is followed by 9.6M people on Instagram.

Being such a popular figure both online and offline, Verstappen is valuable to brands. Many brands want to sponsor him. For example, Red Bull, the energy drink company, sponsors him and casts him in their advertisements. He has also signed as the brand ambassador of Heineken 0.0. No wonder he is making a lot of money.

Career Stats for Formula One World Championship

6. Sergio Perez

Sergio Perez, another young driver, has made the list, with a net worth of $75 million. When you get an $8M salary per year and appear among the richest, it does not surprise others. Yes, Perez receives an 8M USD salary from Red Bull.

Perez, like most other racing drivers, started driving at an early age. He was karting when he was only six years old. He was included in the Sauber team in 2011. By then, he had already established his name as a young driver with immense potential.

Perez was not winning, despite being a skillful driver. He had his first win in F1 in 2020, nine years after his debut. But he did not have to wait long for his second win. As of now, he has recorded five wins starting 242 races.

One needs to win some competitions to get noticed. But for Perez, it was exceptional. He is yet to win any world championship. But he gets the fourth-highest salary in F1 at the moment. He also has a great fan following on social media. He earns a good amount of money from endorsements. He has become one of the most popular Mexican drivers in Formula 1.

Career Stats for Formula One World Championship

7. Daniel Ricciardo

Sometimes you do not need to win so many championships to get rich. Your increasing popularity will do it. Daniel Ricciardo is one such example. He is a skillful driver, no argument on. But he has not won any championships yet. He has already competed in 232 races, though.

Ricciardo was born in Perth, Western Australia. He found out about racing from his father. His father used to compete in local race competitions. He started karting at the age of nine. He was racing in Formula 3 by 2008. It did not take him long to reach Formula 1.

Ricciardo has so far started 232 races in F1 and has eight wins to his name. He gets $15M US dollars annually as a salary. Isn’t that enough to make you rich? Besides, he has multiple big advertising deals, which earned him a good amount of money.

Riccardo has over seven million followers on Instagram. It makes him highly marketable. He is very active on social media, which makes him a good choice for brand promotion. It only makes sense that he belongs to the top 10 richest F1 drivers list.

Career Stats for Formula One World Championship

8. Lance Stroll

Formula 1 is a very popular open-wheel race competition. Fans enjoy watching the best drivers competing on the track. The teams are backed by large brands, so they can afford to pay huge salaries to their drivers. Age is no longer a major factor. But why are we talking about this?

Because our next entrant, Lance Stroll, is only twenty-four years old! That’s right. He is a multi-millionaire only at 24. Don’t think that he is a newbie or inexperienced. Stroll has already participated in 126 races and has recorded 202 career points so far.

Stroll gets an annual $2M salary. It seems a little large for someone of his age, but he has shown great improvement over the years. But most importantly, he is the son of Canadian businessman Lawrence Stroll, who is a part-owner of Aston Martin. So, it makes sense that Stroll is so rich.

Stroll started racing when he was ten years old. He started with karting and won many championships and awards in Canada and North America. His car racing debut took place in 2014. And three years later, he joined the Aston Martin Formula 1 race team.

From the beginning of his career, Stroll has been criticized. Many think that he achieved so much success at such an early age because of his billionaire father. He has not recorded any wins in his six years duration in Formula 1.

But 2023 is looking so far so good for the young driver. Hopefully, he will turn the table around this year. Remember Sergio Perez? He also had to struggle for nine years before achieving his first victory. Stroll still has many more years left to prove himself. For the time being, however, he is one of the richest F1 drivers with a net worth of 50 million USD.

Career Stats for Formula One World Championship

9. Pierre Gasly

Pierre Gasly has made the list with a $33M net worth. He is currently driving for the Alpine-Renault in Formula 1. He is a young driver with immense potential. He has not won any championships yet, but he surely will in the near future.

Gasly was born in Rouen, France, in a sports family. His family has been involved in motorsports for three generations. His grandfather competed in karting, and his grandmother was a champion in karting. His father competed in different race competitions. Gasly’s mother was involved in driving as well.

Being in such a race-loving family, he was destined to be a racing driver. He got the opportunity to showcase his talent in Formula One in 2017. He recorded his first win in the Italian Grand Prix-2020. Gasly has also recorded 336 career points so far from 111 entries.

Gasly is a good draw for the audience. His social media presence is also very intimidating and is followed by more than three million people. He has signed endorsement deals with Blomm and Berger, Destination Grand Prix, Crypto Gaming, and The Grid Agency. No surprise he is on the list.

Career Stats for Formula One World Championship

10. Valtteri Bottas

And at number ten, we have Valtteri Bottas. He is our last entrant with a $20M net worth. He is currently driving the Alfa Romeo Ferrari. And he is paid $10M USD per year!

Bottas was born in Nastola, Finland. His interest in driving sparked when he was six years old. He became a regular audience in the local races and, after a few years, became a driver himself. It did not take him long to get spotted by the Formula One team.

Bottas has recorded ten wins from his 204 entries. When it comes to poles, Bottas is lucky. He has gained twenty pole positions so far in his career. He is yet to win a championship. That could not stop him from being one of the highest-paid drivers. He also earns a handsome amount from endorsement and advertising.

Career Stats for Formula One World Championship

Conclusion

Becoming a racing driver has become the dream of many young kids. Parents also encourage them to pursue careers in open-wheel racing these days. You can see why. All the top 10 richest F1 drivers have a net worth of over 20 million USD. Some of them have many times more.

These drivers get an alluring salary. They are also famous and have millions of followers on social media, which makes them perfect for endorsement.

FAQs

Who is the richest F1 driver in the world?

The top drivers in Formula 1 are quite rich. However, the richest of them in 2023 is Michael Schumacher. The former German driver has a net worth of $600 million. He is also the richest racing driver in the world in 2023.

Who is the highest-paid F1 driver?

F1 drivers have pretty high salaries. No one comes close to Max Verstappen, though. The Dutch racing driver gets a yearly salary of 55 million USD! It is the record-highest salary in the history of Formula 1.

How much is Lewis Hamilton worth?

Lewis Hamilton is one of the richest racing drivers in Formula 1. His net worth is 285 million, which makes him the second richest driver in Formula 1.

• Related: Best Racing Driving Schools In America