Top 10 Formula 1's highest-paid drivers: Verstappen has made a total of $323 million over the five years that Forbes has tracked Formula 1 driver incomeTop 10 Formula 1’s Highest-Paid Drivers: Formula 1’s new season is almost here, bringing fresh car liveries and two new teams, Audi and Cadillac, into the fold. To build excitement, Netflix has released season eight of its long-running documentary Drive to Survive, which looks back at the previous F1 season and reveals what unfolded behind the scenes.The fight for the Formula 1 drivers’ championship went right down to the final race of the season. With a third-place finish at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday, Lando Norris managed to beat his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri and reigning four-time champion Max Verstappen to secure the 2025 title, along with an estimated $10 million bonus.However, even after factoring in his reported $18 million salary and about $29.5 million in performance-related earnings, Norris’s total of roughly $57.5 million places him third in the sport’s earnings rankings for 2025.Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton sits ahead of Norris. In his first season with Ferrari, after 12 highly successful years with Mercedes, Hamilton is estimated by Forbes to earn a record $70 million in salary, plus around $500,000 in bonuses. Still, Verstappen remains the top earner in Formula 1, with total estimated compensation of $76 million, made up of $65 million in salary and $11 million in bonuses. The 28-year-old Dutch driver has now topped the earnings list for four consecutive seasons.Overall, the 10 highest-paid drivers in Formula 1 earned an estimated $363 million on track this season. That figure is up 15 per cent from $317 million in 2024 and has surged 72 per cent since Forbes began publishing these rankings in 2021.Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc ranks fifth with estimated earnings of $30 million, up from $27 million. His jump comes after a significant salary increase following a new contract signed last year.Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll takes the No 8 spot with an estimated $13.5 million. The figure may appear high, given that the 27-year-old Canadian finished only 16th in the standings with 33 points. However, the number became public through team financial filings. Because he is the son of billionaire team owner Lawrence Stroll, Aston Martin disclosed his compensation at $12.3 million for the 2024 season, up from $5.6 million in 2023.Story continues below this adMercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli ranks No 10 with estimated earnings of $12.5 million after an impressive debut season. In March, he became the third-youngest driver in Formula 1 history to debut, at just 18 years, 6 months and 19 days old.Off the track, Hamilton remains the most commercially successful driver on the grid, earning an estimated $20 million from endorsements and other ventures in the 12 months ending in May. That helped him place 22nd on Forbes’ 2025 list of the world’s highest-paid athletes. Verstappen, in comparison, earned about $6 million off the track during the same period.With his latest earnings included, Verstappen has made a total of $323 million over the five years that Forbes has tracked Formula 1 driver income, an amount that likely eases the disappointment of narrowly missing this season’s championship.Here is the list of the top 10 highest-paid F1 drivers: