According to RacingNews365, seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton is expected to earn a base salary of £29 million this season at Mercedes, a staggering £16 million less than reigning World Champion Max Verstappen.
Verstappen is comfortably the highest paid driver on the grid currently, a position he’s held since signing his long-term contract with Red Bull last year.
The Dutchman’s deal will see him earn £45 million per season until the end of 2028, when his lucrative contract expires.
Whether Hamilton will reclaim the highest-earner honours when he signs his new deal with Mercedes remains to be seen; however, the leading duo are clear of the rest of the grid.
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Third on the highest base salary list is Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who’s set to receive £20 million this season from the Maranello-based team.
Leclerc is expected to receive £3 million more than McLaren’s Lando Norris, who’ll still be earning a pretty handy £17 million – excluding bonuses.
There’s then a sizeable drop in salary to Carlos Sainz in fifth, who’s base salary is a reported £10 million.
Sixth spot is then occupied by both Sergio Perez at Red Bull and Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas, who are believed to earn £8 million per season on their current deals.
Just £1 million behind the pair is George Russell, who replaced Bottas at Mercedes last season.
Russell’s base salary will likely increase substantially when he signs his next contract with Mercedes, which is expected to be at the end of 2025 due to his current deal having been reportedly extended by a season.
Surprisingly, Fernando Alonso is base salary is reportedly just £4 million, putting him joint-10th on the list along with Pierre Gasly and Kevin Magnussen.
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All three drivers earn £1 million less than Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, who is the ninth highest earner on the grid.
At the bottom of the base salary leaderboard is rookie Logan Sargeant and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, who’s are estimated to earn £800,000 for their 2023 efforts.
Sargeant is expected to earn half of what fellow rookie Oscar Piastri is believed to earn at McLaren, with the Aussie reportedly set to receive £1.6 million from the Woking-based team this season.