Leading sports finance expert Dr Rob Wilson believes Max Verstappen could earn up to £100 million if he joins Mercedes, with Lando Norris and George Russell also tipped to potentially surpass Lewis Hamilton’s career earnings due to Formula 1’s evolving financial landscape.
Wilson said: “Max Verstappen has been hugely successful. In Formula 1, you kind of talk about Lewis Hamilton, Verstappen, Lando Norris is coming through, but his performances haven't been absolutely brilliant.
“There’s a couple of other drivers so there is a degree of competitive balance itself, which is hugely important because Formula 1 was getting seriously boring.
“That has only served to amplify and increase the earning potential for those elite drivers. We've talked about Hamilton and I think Verstappen is probably looking at salary plus signing-on fee if he was to move teams.
“Given the sponsors that he would bring with him, we’re probably talking about a hundred million on the table for him.”
Historically, the era of mega-buck wages in Formula 1 began with Michael Schumacher's estimated annual salary at Ferrari, during his time from 1996 to 2006, ranged from $30 million to $38 million. His total earnings at Ferrari could be considered as potentially reaching $62.5 million.
Verstappen is reported to earn $65 million per year from Red Bull Racing, making him the highest-paid Formula 1 driver. This salary includes bonuses and endorsements.
Due to his latest contract with Ferrari, Hamilton is set to earn an annual salary of $60 million, including bonuses. During his time at Mercedes in 2023, he received a base salary of $35 million, which later increased to approximately $45 million per year
Russell biding his time as Mercedes weigh up post-Hamilton Formula 1 plans
With Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari in 2025, Wilson noted that Russell is now in a pivotal position at Mercedes — but warned that results must follow to justify a top-tier Formula 1 contract.
“George Russell is a hugely competent driver and Mercedes haven't been able to deliver a hugely competitive car. They've been in and around at times, but they're not competitive. It's ultimately, I think, why Lewis Hamilton decided to leave,” Wilson explained.
“So Russell now finds himself in the premier driver's seat with that team, but they're not yet delivering the sort of performances that he might think his skills are able to deliver.
“He's probably trying to negotiate a really hefty contract with Mercedes or he might be having his head above the parapet or the pit wall to see if anybody wants to take a chance on him as a lead driver.
“Ferrari are well set up now. It’s interesting going back to Max Verstappen — if Verstappen was to leave, then that would open a seat up at Red Bull. Red Bull are struggling a little bit this year.
“None of the other teams are really coming through like you might expect them to be able to offer George the sort of salary he might want.
“McLaren would be the only one but they've seen Norris and Piastri seem to be pretty well set there for a while. So I think the delay is very strategic — it's an opportunity for him to suss out how competitive they are on the grid and it's for Mercedes to sort of say right how far are we going to push this contract because let's remember that losing Lewis Hamilton will have saved them a tonne of money.
“George is probably thinking right, I'll have a slice of that, but he's going to have to win some races to really maximise his position.”
Norris and Russell could surpass Hamilton’s career earnings but not his legacy
Looking at the broader financial trajectory of Formula 1, Wilson suggested that the sheer volume of cash now in the sport could see a new generation overtake Hamilton’s financial milestones.
Wilson said: “The big difference is the amount of cash that's now in F1, now compared to what it was when Lewis Hamilton started.
“In terms of pure earning potential and capacity, we could see both George Russell and Lando Norris catch up his career earnings and potentially go past it.
“But that is purely because the amount of money that's in the sport is more than it was when Hamilton started his F1 career in 2007.
“I don't think they'll sort of hit the cultural commercial relevance that Lewis has achieved because I think that's unique to specific athletes, those iconic athletes.
“In order to achieve something like that, Russell or a Norris will have to go out and win six, seven, eight, nine, ten Formula 1 World Championships — that's going to be much easier said than done given the competition they have got on the grid and the car performance," Wilson concluded.
(Source: OLBG)
Latest News
Loading
