Which drivers are paid the most? F1, IndyCar and NASCAR salaries revealed

Who isn’t envious of Formula 1 drivers? Bravery, stunning ability, physical supremacy and gold-plated glamour make the likes of Lewis Hamilton categorical superstars.

F1 is the pinnacle of motorsport for prestige but other series are just as demanding. Championships like NASCAR and IndyCar require similar levels of courage and honed craft, but how does the lifestyle of their drivers live up to that of F1’s feted stars? Today, we’re investigating driver salaries from all three series.

F1 salaries – $16.55 million average (£12.33m)

F1 drivers are the highest-paid athletes in motorsports, taking home $14.5m per year on average, though this is skewed significantly by the top three earners in the sport.

Drivers earn a base salary from their team, though they’re able to earn bonuses based on their finishing position in the championship, where the team finished in the constructors’ championship, sponsor deals, and more.

Forbes has shared a report on driver earnings from 2024, while the media has also speculated on various salary bumps heading into the F1 2025 season.

The two top earners in the F1 paddock — Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton — seriously skew the average earnings of the field.

Verstappen’s base salary in 2024 was a whopping $60m, with $15m added on in bonuses, which should come as no surprise for a four-time World Champion.

Trailing Verstappen is Lewis Hamilton, who nabbed a $55m base salary form Ferrari, with $2m in bonuses.

As far as actual salaries go, both McLaren drivers were at the middle end of the spectrum, with Lando Norris making a base salary of $12 and Oscar Piastri a base salary of $5m. However, thanks to their impressive performance in the World Constructors’ Championship, the two more than doubled their salaries with bonuses.

At the lower end of the field are Jack Doohan and Isack Hadjar, who are said to be making somewhere between $500,000 to $1 million — though Doohan has since been replaced by Franco Colapinto.

Reported F1 salaries (based on reported 2024 earnings and media claims of 2025 salaries:

• Max Verstappen (Red Bull): $75 million
• Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari): $57 million
• Lando Norris (McLaren): $35 million
• Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin): $27.5 million
• Charles Leclerc (Ferrari): $27 million
• Oscar Piastri (McLaren): $25.9 million
• George Russell (Mercedes): $23 million
• Carlos Sainz (Williams): $19 million
• Pierre Gasly (Alpine): $12 million
• Esteban Ocon (Haas): $6 million
• Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber): $5 million
• Alex Albon (Williams): $3 million
• Lance Stroll (Aston Martin): $3 million
• Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls): $3 million
• Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull): $3 million
• Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes): $2 million
• Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber): $2 million
• Oliver Bearman (Haas): $1 million
• Jack Doohan* (Alpine): $500,000 – $1 million
• Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls): $500,000 – $1 million

* Jack Doohan has been replaced by Franco Colapinto; Colapinto’s salary is unclear, but it is likely similar to Doohan’s.

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NASCAR salaries – $4.7 million average (£3.5m)

NASCAR is a staple of the United States’ unique sporting culture, with a proud all-American history. It is the smallest of the four US mainstream sports, behind billion-dollar industries the NFL, NHL, and NBA.

Considering the series lacks the global reach of F1 – aside from rare breakout moments like Ross Chastain’s unbelievable wall-ride or the addition of international drivers to the field like Australia’s Shane van Gisbergen or F1’s Jenson Button – there is still plenty of money to go around.

NASCAR is contested by double the number of drivers on F1’s grid, including some part-time competitors who make much less than $1 million.

Up until 2016, NASCAR used to publicly disclose its driver salaries; now, those figures are more challenging to come by but can be estimated thanks to media reports.

However, we do know that the veteran drivers tend to make the most money thanks to long-term contracts that have carried over from NASCAR’s most profitable days. Younger drivers often make far less.

Reported NASCAR earnings in 2025 at-a-glance:

• Kyle Busch – $16.9m
• Denny Hamlin – $13.1m
• Martin Truex Jr – $10.4m
• Brad Keselowski – $9.4m
• Joey Logano – $9m
• Kyle Larson – $8m
• Chase Elliott – $8m
• Daniel Suarez – $4.5m
• Michael McDowell – $3.7m
• Alex Bowman – $3.5m
• Austin Dillon – $3.5m
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – $3m
• Erik Jones – $2.3m
• Bubba Wallace – $2.2m
• Ross Chastain – $2.1m
• Ryan Blaney – $1.9m
• William Byron – $1.8m
• Ryan Preece – $1.6m
• Chris Buescher – $1.5m
• Tyler Reddick – $1.3m
• Chase Briscoe – $1.2m
• Christopher Bell – $800,000
• Cole Custer – $500,000

IndyCar – $750,000 average (£616,000)

IndyCar is America’s premiere form of open-wheel racing, with the Indianapolis 500 representing the series’ annual crown jewel.

Much like NASCAR, specific details about IndyCar driver salaries are difficult to come by, though team owner Mike Shank recently revealed some of the biggest paychecks on offer over the course of the season, with Andretti Global driver Colton Herta at the top of the charts.

The salaries for much of the grid are small, with many drivers relying on a great finish in the Indianapolis 500 to further line their pockets; many drivers will make more from finishing that single race than they will for the remainder of the season.

IndyCar salaries have been on the rise as the sport’s profile grows both in the United States and abroad, though they are still dwarfed by the money on offer in NASCAR and Formula 1.

However, some of the larger figures on offer here are an “anomaly,”per driver Graham Rahal.

“I think McLaren’s pay is an anomaly, compared to every other team, and I don’t really know how that works, but it’s not up to me,” Rahal said.

“When I came into the sport, there were a lot of guys not making money – like any. Zero. Not being able to pay the insurance bill every year, and it’s changing in the right direction. Hopefully for the younger guys, this will change the market and help some of them get a little better off.”

Reported IndyCar earners in 2024 at-a-glance:

• Colton Herta – $7 million
• Pato O’Ward – $5 million
• Scott Dixon -$3.5 million to $4.5 million
• Kyle Kirkwood – $3.5 million
• Marcus Ericsson – $3 million
• Team Penske drivers (Josef Newgarden, Will Power, Scott McLaughlin – $3 million
• Devlin DeFrancesco – $100,000

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