A driver’s salary is based predominantly on their experience and success. For example, before he departed Williams midway through his second F1 season, Logan Sargeant was on an estimated annual salary of $1m (£760k). On the other hand, previous and current world champions such as Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are earning upwards of $51m per season (£39m).
On top of that, drivers then receive bonuses based on their performances. According to Chapman, a driver will “almost always” receive a bonus for achieving a point-scoring position — although this will vary depending on the team, with midfield and back-marker outfits often paying higher amounts to drivers who finish in ninth or tenth, while front-running teams will better incentivise finishing spots inside the top five.
“The team can afford to pay those points bonuses because they too will earn money for constructor points, and may also have additional income coming in from team sponsors, which will often pay them dependent on specific goals” says Chapman. “So from a team’s point of view, if they structure their contracts correctly they will be quite happy to pay out those bonuses because it’s self-financing.”
Driver bonuses
Individual driver bonuses can vary massively from team to team depending on their position on the gird.
For example, some midfield drivers could be paid as much as $10,000 (£7,600) for every point scored (meaning they could potentially earn $250,000 for a shock race win) — incentivising the need to race for the last point-scoring places.
In 2023, Lance Stroll finished tenth in the drivers’ standings and scored a total of 74 points. Had Aston Martin paid him using the above bonus scheme, he could have earned upwards of $970,000 (£740,000) on top of his regular salary.
On the other hand, drivers racing for constructors further up the grid could earn no race bonus at all for finishing ninth or tenth, but could receive as much as $500,000 (£380,000) per race win. Had Max Verstappen had this agreement in place with Red Bull in 2023, the Dutchman would have been rewarded with over $9.5m (£7.2m) in performance bonuses.
Below is an estimate for how much a driver could earn per place, if they were awarded a bonus of $10,000 per point.
| Finishing place | Estimated bonus |
| 1st | $250,000 (£190,000) |
| 2nd | $180,000 (£140,000) |
| 3rd | $150,000 (£114,000) |
| 4th | $120,000 (£91,000) |
| 5th | $100,000 (£76,000) |
| 6th | $80,000 (£60,000) |
| 7th | $60,000 (£45,000) |
| 8th | $40,000 (£30,000) |
| 9th | $20,000 (£15,000) |
| 10th | $10,000 (£7,600) |