2025 F1 driver contract lengths and wages including Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari salary

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Formula 1 drivers are some of the highest-paid athletes in the world, so F1 Oversteer has taken a look at the contract details and wages of the 20 stars on the grid in 2025.

Making it to the top of Formula 1 can be hugely lucrative and sees drivers rub shoulders with the likes of NFL superstar Patrick Mahomes, golfing royalty Tiger Woods and basketball hero Kevin Durant. F1 drivers can even rival other sporting heavyweights for their on-field wages.

But only those at the sharp end of the grid rank highly in the world’s money lists. The racers at the rear of the field often need to bring sponsorship into their team to earn a seat and to boost their earnings. Some drivers also need to achieve certain criteria to earn big bonuses.

Most Formula 1 teams issued new contracts during the 2024 season to bring in new talent or to reward their drivers with wage rises. Lando Norris at McLaren and Charles Leclerc with Ferrari had previously seen salary increases in 2024 with their contract renewals.

After deciding to leave Mercedes for Maranello after a decade in Brackley, Lewis Hamilton got one of the biggest salaries on the 2025 Formula 1 grid when he joined Ferrari. Only Red Bull rival Max Verstappen really competes with the seven-time drivers’ champion in terms of his contracted wage.

So, with that in mind, F1 Oversteer takes a look into all of the contract details and wages for F1’s Class of 2025 and when their deals will expire and how much they are paid each year…

McLaren: Lando Norris

• Contract until: Multi-year contract (End of 2028, option for 2029)
• Yearly salary: Estimated £49.41 million ($57.5 million)

Norris has spent his entire Formula 1 career so far at McLaren and is locked down in Woking until the end of the 2028 season. The 2025 World Champion last signed a new contract for the papaya outfit in January 2024, with McLaren gifting Norris a pay rise before emerging as a title contender last year.

According to Forbes, Norris earned a base salary of £15.72m ($18m) in 2025, along with bonuses of £29.64m ($39.5m), making him the third-highest-paid Formula 1 driver for a second consecutive year, based on potential earnings. Verstappen and Hamilton eclipsed Norris largely with their base salaries.

The reported figures estimate that Norris earns roughly £49.41m ($57.5m), with CEO Zak Brown loath to lose one of F1’s best drivers. The title victor has unsurprisingly seen his bonuses increase from £17m ($23m) to £29.64m ($39.5m) in 2025, with most expected to come from sources such as his partnership with Hilton Hotels and his own brand, Quadrant.

McLaren: Oscar Piastri

• Contract until: Multi-year contract (End of 2028)
• Yearly salary: Estimated £28.15 million ($37.5 million)

Oscar Piastri signed a multi-year contract extension with McLaren ahead of the 2025 season to keep him with the team until the end of 2028. The contract reportedly matched his salary to that of his teammate Norris, having played a crucial role in McLaren achieving their first Constructors’ Championship since 1998 in 2024.

Piastri was initially out of contract at the end of 2026, having signed a deal in September 2023. But he committed his future long-term to the team after Norris, Andrea Stella and Brown also signed contract extensions.

In 2025, the Aussie jumped from seventh to fourth on Forbes’ highest paid drivers in 2025, with a combined earnings of £28.15m ($37.5m). According to the latest report by the financial and business magazine, Piastri earns £7.9m ($10m) as his base salary, which has increased from £3.75m ($5m) the year before.

Ferrari: Charles Leclerc

• Contract until: Multi-year contract (Reportedly end of 2029)
• Yearly salary: Estimated £22.9 million ($30 million)

Ferrari wasted little time in letting Leclerc run down the final year of his previous contract by locking the Monegasque into a multi-year contract in January 2024. Although the end date of his contract is not specified, it has been reported that Leclerc will remain with the team until at least the end of 2029.

Leclerc is estimated to be the fifth-best-paid Formula 1 driver for a fourth consecutive year, earning a reported £22.9 million ($30 million). Forbes has estimated that the Monegasque doubled his earnings in 2025, but saw his bonuses drop to nothing after a difficult Ferrari season.

Ferrari: Lewis Hamilton

• Contract until: End of 2027
• Yearly salary: Estimated £52.77 million ($70.5 million)

The 2025 Formula 1 season saw Hamilton leave Mercedes for Ferrari, having agreed to one of the most lucrative contracts on the grid. According to the BBC, Hamilton saw a 50% pay increase after his move, with the Brit earning up to an estimated £54.7m ($74m).

However, according to Forbes, in 2025, Hamilton saw a dip in his overall earnings, dropping to £52.77m ($70.5m).

Only Verstappen was paid more than Hamilton among the Formula 1 field for the fourth year in a row, with Hamilton’s bonuses reduced from £1.5m ($2m) at Mercedes to £324k ($0.5m) during his maiden season with Ferrari. After a difficult first season with the Maranello-based team, it’s unsurprising that Hamilton’s earnings have dipped.

Red Bull: Max Verstappen

• Contract until: End of 2028
• Yearly salary: Estimated £56.89 million ($76 million)

Verstappen winning his first drivers’ championship in the 2021 season saw Red Bull give the Dutchman a new contract through to the end of the 2028 campaign in March 2022. The deal also took his basic wage up a level, and it continued to hit a new peak during the 2024 Formula 1 season.

According to Forbes, Red Bull made Verstappen the highest-paid F1 driver in 2025 for the fourth year running. The team increased his basic salary from £44.3m ($60m) to £56.89m ($76m) this year, although his bonuses dropped from £11m ($15m) to £8.32m ($11m) which could be partly aided by the Dutchman losing the championship to Norris and Red Bull finishing third in the championship standings.

Red Bull: Yuki Tsunoda

• Contract until: End of 2025
• Yearly base salary: Estimated £2.2 million ($3 million)

Visa Cash App Racing Bulls activated an option in the contract of Yuki Tsunoda in June 2024 to retain the Japanese star for a fifth year in Faenza through 2025. Yet despite spending his F1 career at the junior Red Bull squad, Tsunoda is among the lowest-paid drivers in the field, only ahead of the rookies.

Staying for the 2025 term saw Tsunoda’s salary increase as RB slightly rebranded as Racing Bulls. But it only took his wage from £1.3m to £2.2m ($1.8m to $3m). He even remained on a single-year deal, despite the 2024 term yielding his highest ranking with 12th in the drivers’ standings.

Tsunoda was promoted to Red Bull after two races with Racing Bulls in 2025, following the poor performance of Liam Lawson. As a result of the promotion, Honda is reportedly paying Red Bull double to have Tsunoda in the seat for the remainder of the season.

Mercedes: George Russell

• Contract until: Multi-year deal
• Yearly salary: Estimated £19.42 million ($26 million)

After Hamilton moved to Ferrari in 2025, the role of team leader at Mercedes moved to George Russell. But the Briton will need to deliver a strong campaign in his fourth season for the Silver Arrows. Russell’s contract was set to expire at the end of this year, although it was recently announced that he will remain with the team for at least 2026.

Russell has dropped down a place on the Forbes highest-paid drivers list in 2025, finding himself now in seventh. Despite no change to his salary in 2025, Russell’s bonuses increased from £5.9m ($8m) to £8.2m ($11m) this year.

Mercedes: Andrea Kimi Antonelli

• Contract until: Reportedly multi-year deal
• Yearly salary: Estimated £9.33 million ($12.5 million)

Mercedes promoted Andrea Kimi Antonelli up from their driver academy to replace Hamilton, who made his Formula 1 debut in 2025. The Silver Arrows confirmed he would graduate after only a year in Formula 2 at Antonelli’s home race, the 2024 Italian Grand Prix.

The move to Formula 1 and a contract renewal for 2026 with Mercedes has seen Antonelli become the only rookie to join Forbes’ highest-paid drivers list in 2026, with his salary reportedly increasing from £1.4m ($2m) to £3.73m ($5m) in 2025.

Aston Martin: Fernando Alonso

• Contract until: At least the end of 2026
• Yearly salary: Estimated £19.8 million ($26.5 million)

Retirement was potentially on the cards at the start of 2024, but Fernando Alonso agreed to sign a new contract with Aston Martin that April. He was due to be a free agent at the end of the year, but the Spaniard signed up for at least two more years and into F1’s new regulations.

F1 will introduce new power unit and chassis regulations in 2026, and Alonso is eager to see what Aston Martin can deliver with design guru Adrian Newey becoming the team principal. Alonso has dropped from fourth to sixth on Forbes rich list, noting that Spaniard’s base wage of £17.7m ($24m) has not changed in 2025.

The financial and business news site did, however, note that Alonso’s bonuses did drop from £2.5m ($3.5m) to £1.86m ($2.5m) this year, which could be down to Aston Martin’s disappointing season.

Aston Martin: Lance Stroll

• Contract until: At least the end of 2026
• Yearly base salary: Estimated £10 million ($13.5 million)

Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll has invested a fortune into making Aston Martin one of the best Formula 1 teams since buying Force India, as he wants to see his son, Lance Stroll, be a champion. It was also because his dad owns the team that he often had one-year deals, although the details of his contract remain largely unknown.

But Aston Martin gave Stroll a new, long-term contract running through at least the 2026 F1 season in June 2024. Last year it was reported that the Canadian’s wage was £2.2m ($3m), however, Stroll has now appeared on the Forbes highest paid drivers list with an estimated salary of £8.95m ($12m).

Alpine: Pierre Gasly

• Contract until: End of 2028
• Yearly salary: Estimated £8.8 million ($12 million)

Ahead of the 2025 Italian Grand Prix, Alpine agreed a new contract with Pierre Gasly that will keep the Frenchman with the team until the end of 2028. Following the announcement, Gasly said: “I’m thrilled to commit my long-term future to Alpine.

“I want to be here in years to come and deliver on our joint objective: to win races and world championships. We’re all in this together, and I look forward to continuing this special story.”

Gasly’s last contract in June 2024 saw his wage increase to £7.3m ($10m) a year plus £1.4m ($2m) in bonuses, per Forbes, with details of his new contract yet to be confirmed.

Alpine: Franco Colapinto

• Contract until: 2026 (multi-year contract)
• Yearly base salary: Estimated £1.1 million ($1.5 million)

After Enstone chiefs opted against giving Esteban Ocon a new contract, they initially went with Jack Doohan for the first six races of 2025. He was later replaced by Franco Colapinto, who joined the team from Williams as part of their reserve pool in January.

Colapinto started his Alpine run on a five-race contract with an evaluation initially expected at the British Grand Prix. The Argentine was now reportedly on a race-by-race contract, although Alpine confirmed ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix that Colapinto will remain with the team in 2026.

Williams: Alex Albon

• Contract until: Multi-year deal (End of 2027)
• Yearly salary: Estimated £5.9 million ($8 million)

Williams team principal James Vowles fended off emerging interest from teams like Red Bull and Mercedes by giving Alex Albon a new, multi-year contract in May 2024. Teams from the sharp end of the grid were closely monitoring Albon with his previous deal expiring in 2025.

Albon is locked down in Grove through at least the end of 2027 after emerging as their lead driver in 2023 and 2024. As his efforts in 2024 also saw Williams’ team value increase, Albon signed a new contract that saw his salary increase to £5.9m ($8m), according to the Radio Times.

Williams: Carlos Sainz

• Contract until: End of 2026 (options for 2027 and 2028)
• Yearly base salary: Estimated £9.7 million ($13 million)

Vowles went all-in to sign Carlos Sainz to replace Logan Sargeant at Williams in the 2025 F1 season upon learning that Ferrari would be releasing the Spaniard to sign Hamilton. Williams would ultimately land Sainz on a multi-year contract in July 2024, after fending off Audi plus Alpine.

Sainz agreed to sign an initial two-year contract and help Albon lead Williams into F1’s 2026 regulation changes. His deal even includes options for 2027 plus 2028, and will see Williams pay multiple Grand Prix winner Sainz a wage believed to be in the region of £7.46m ($10m), an increase from his reported 2024 earnings of £7.3m ($10m) per year.

Even with the move away from Ferrari, Sainz brought in bonuses of £2.24m ($3m) which saw him keep his position of ninth on the Forbes highest paid drivers list in 2025.

Visa Cash App Racing Bulls: Liam Lawson

• Contract until: End of 2025
• Yearly base salary: Estimated £738,000 ($1 million)

After Red Bull sacked Sergio Perez in December 2024, the team from Milton Keynes decided to promote Liam Lawson from their sister crew Visa Cash App RB. Yet Red Bull only felt fit to award Lawson a one-year contract to replace Perez, having only driven in 11 grands prix at the time.

Perez survived frequent speculation that Red Bull could fire him mid-season in 2024 but his lack of form alongside the drivers’ champion Verstappen cost the team the defence of their constructors’ title. So, after he finished 2024 eighth in the standings, Red Bull sacked Perez.

Cancelling Perez’s contract for 2025, which Forbes cited at £8.8m ($12m) plus £5.5m ($7.5m) in bonuses as the eighth highest-paid F1 driver in 2024, even created a place for Lawson. But it did not see the Kiwi get the big bucks as Red Bull gave Lawson an estimated £738,000 ($1m) contract, per RacingNews365.

Lawson was demoted to Racing Bulls after just two races with Red Bull, with the team swapping him for Tsunoda for the remainder of 2025.

Visa Cash App Racing Bulls: Isack Hadjar

• Contract until: End of 2025
• Yearly base salary: Estimated £369,462 ($0.5 million)

Due to having to wait on Red Bull to decide if Lawson would replace Perez in their top driver line-up in 2025, Visa Cash App Racing Bulls only revealed that Isack Hadjar would graduate from Formula 2 to Formula 1 to be Tsunoda’s latest teammate in December 2024.

Red Bull only gave Hadjar a one-year contract for his rookie F1 season with Racing Bulls after missing out on the F2 title in 2024. The level of the Frenchman’s wage also places him at the very bottom of the Formula 1 salary chart with Red Bull paying Hadjar £369,462 ($0.5m) at Racing Bulls.

Sauber: Nico Hulkenberg

• Contract until: Multi-year deal (End of 2027)
• Yearly base salary: Estimated £5.1 million ($7 million)

Nico Hulkenberg agreed to a multi-year contract with Audi in April 2024 that sees the German race for Sauber in the 2025 season. Audi will transform Sauber into its factory team to debut in F1 in 2026, and it identified Hulkenberg to lead the brand’s move into the series.

Signing a works contract with Audi also saw Hulkenberg get a considerable pay rise from his wage at Haas during the 2024 season. He gets a yearly base salary of £5.1m ($7m) at Audi, having earned £1.4m ($2m) at Haas – who paid Hulkenberg’s ex-teammate Kevin Magnussen £3.6m ($5m) a year.

Sauber: Gabriel Bortoleto

• Contract until: Multi-year deal (End of 2026)
• Yearly base salary: Estimated £1.4 million ($2 million)

McLaren agreed to release Gabriel Bortoleto from his academy contract to sign a multi-year works contract with Audi in November 2024. The Brazilian will get his debut in Formula 1 in the team’s final year under the Sauber name in 2025 ahead of them becoming Audi in 2026.

Signing a works Audi contract to graduate to Formula 1 with Sauber also saw Bortoleto earn a wage of £1.4m ($2m) a year. But the Brazilian potentially may have received an even higher wage had Bortoleto not signed with Audi before taking the 2024 F2 title on the back of his F3 championship win.

Haas: Esteban Ocon

• Contract until: At least the end of 2026
• Yearly base salary: Estimated £5.1 million ($7 million)

Haas jumped at a chance to sign Ocon to replace Magnussen in the 2025 Formula 1 season after Alpine decided against renewing the Frenchman’s contract, which saw him get a wage of £4.4m ($6m) a year in Enstone. Ocon agreed to sign a multi-year contract with Haas in July 2024.

Ocon will help to lead Haas into Formula 1’s engine and chassis regulation changes in 2026, and received a slight pay rise to reflect his status as the American crew’s lead driver. Ocon’s contract for Haas is worth £5.1m ($7m) a year, more than Magnussen or Hulkenberg made there.

Haas: Oliver Bearman

• Contract until: At least the end of 2026
• Yearly base salary: Estimated £300,000 ($0.39 million)

Ferrari Driver Academy product Oliver Bearman agreed to a multi-year contract with Haas in July 2024 for his graduation from Formula 2 to F1 in 2025. He had impressed the US-owned team in the Briton’s role as a reserve driver for Haas and also Ferrari since the start of 2024.

Bearman furthered his cause for an F1 race seat with his shock debut replacing Sainz in the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix for Ferrari. He also replaced Magnussen at Haas in the 2024 Azerbaijan GP plus the Sao Paulo GP – ensuring Bearman no longer counts as a rookie in F1.

Yet despite losing the rookie tag and being signed by Haas to replace new Sauber/Audi pilot Hulkenberg, the Havering, London native is one of the lowest-paid drivers on the Formula 1 grid, with a reported £300,000 ($0.39m) a year contract, as per the Daily Mail.