F1 during Christmas vacation

“Driver’s license” now costs Max around €1 million

Max Verstappen - world champion and "money hamster"

(Bild: AFP/AFP or licensors)

Formula 1 is in the Christmas vacations. World champion Max Verstappen is the highest-paid driver, his "driver's license" costs around one million euros.

"This could also bring unrest to the Red Bull Racing workforce," said Head of Motorsport Dr. Helmut Marko in the middle of the season. What was he referring to? The mixed performance of Sergio Pérez. "The bonus payments for the employees are ultimately based on their position in the constructors' championship!"

Helmut Marko

(Bild: AFP/APA/Martin KEEP)

After the longest season in history with 24 races, not only "Checo" Pérez, but also the 1,000 or so "good spirits" at the Austrian racing team had a bit of a Christmas face when they looked at their account balance. Beaten by McLaren, defeated by Ferrari - only third place in the manufacturers' standings. On Red Bull Racing's revenue side, this means around 15 to 20 million dollars less than in the previous year, when they demolished the competition with 21 race wins.

Max Verstappen (left) and Sergio Perez

(Bild: AFP/GETTY IMAGES/Jared C. Tilton)

Even though the contract with Pérez had been extended by two years during the summer break, there were heated discussions until the end as to whether or not to pull the ripcord. Now it seems certain: the Mexican, who was outclassed by Max Verstappen in the team-internal duel with 152:437 points and also caused accident damage of almost four million dollars (peak value), is likely to lose his cockpit and be replaced by Liam Lawson.

However, Red Bull Racing is likely to have to dig deep into its pockets for the "deadline-less" driver. According to information from Krone, the racing team, which incidentally also did not renew its contract with Mexico's billionaire Telmex boss Carlos Slim (instead intensifying its cooperation with the North American telecommunications group AT&T), is facing severance claims in the double-digit millions.

Damages 2024

Sergio Perez 3.51 million euros
Alex Albon 3.32 million euros
George Russell 2.31 million euros
Logan Sargeant 2.06 million euros
Carlos Sainz 1.96 million euros
Franco Colapinto 1.89 million euros
Yuki Tsunoda 1.39 million euros
Fernando Alonso 1.24 million euros
Lance Stroll 1.18 million euros
Zhou Guanyu 0.81 million euros
Kevin Magnussen 0.72 million euros
Daniel Ricciardo 0.65 million euros
Charles Leclerc 0.64 million euros
Esteban Ocon 0.57 million euros
Max Verstappen 0.41 million euros
Pierre Gasly 0.00 million euros

Lawson by 20,000 euros
However, there is one item where the departure of the six-time Grand Prix winner would have a positive financial impact. In order to renew the super license, i.e. the Formula 1 driver's license, certain sums must be paid each year, consisting of a basic fee and an amount per championship point. So if you had to pay in for Pérez, that would be around 360,000 euros, compared to just 20,000 euros for Lawson. The absolute frontrunner here is also four-time champion Max Verstappen, whose "cap" costs around one million, but that is almost 200,000 euros less than last year.

License fee 2025

Max Verstappen 1,021,960 euros
Lando Norris 876,200 euros
Charles Leclerc 834,650 euros
Oscar Piastri 686,720 euros
Carlos Sainz 682,070 euros
George Russell 577,980 euros
Lewis Hamilton 527,100 euros
Sergio Pérez 362,940 euros
Fernando Alonso 173,310 euros
Pierre Gasly 108,580 euros
Nico Hülkenberg 106,270 euros
Yuki Tsunoda 80,830 euros
Lance Stroll 66,950 euros
Esteban Ocon 64,640 euros
Alex Albon 39,200 euros
Oliver Bearman 27,640 euros
Franco Colapinto 23,020 euros
Liam Lawson 20,700 euros
Kimi Antonelli 11,453 euros
Jack Doohan 11,453 euros

"Fortunately, I don't have to pay that myself," grinned "King Max", who, with 71 million dollars (fixed salary and performance bonuses), is also the highest-earning rider of our time according to the current Forbes list - and that's without including a single sponsorship dollar.

Salary 2024

Max Verstappen 71.0 million euros
Lewis Hamilton 54.0 million euros
Lando Norris 33.0 million euros
Fernando Alonso 26.0 million euros
Charles Leclerc 25.5 million euros
George Russell 22.0 million euros
Oscar Piastri 21.0 million euros
Sergio Perez 18.5 million euros
Carlos Sainz 18.0 million euros
Pierre Gasly 11.0 million euros

However, Lewis Hamilton could overtake him in this ranking in the coming season. If Italian media reports are to be believed, the seven-time world champion is set to receive a fixed salary of around 100 million dollars from Scuderia Ferrari ...