The lucrative world of F1: A peek under the hood of the drivers’ salaries

[SINGAPORE] Zipping through the narrow streets of Singapore at 300 kmh, at a track temperature of 60 degrees Celsius and with the risk of crashing at a g-force exceeding 67 g is no mean feat.

Formula 1 (F1) drivers regularly put their bodies and minds through the wringer for their passion and our entertainment. It is a sport that claimed a life as recently as 2014, in Japan, and nearly did so again in 2020 when Romain Grosjean emerged from an inferno in a crash that is etched in every viewer’s memory.

All these, including the behind-the-scenes look at the F1 circus through Netflix’s Drive to Survive, make for popular viewing. In August, F1 published a report that said TV viewership for the 2025 season continued to show an upward trajectory, with 13 of 14 races showing live viewership growth year on year in 15 of F1’s key markets. Average F1 race viewership on ESPN has risen from about 1.1 million viewers in 2024 to about 1.4 million in 2025, said the network.

The popularity of the sport and the risks faced by the drivers can earn them up to tens of millions of dollars from every race. Their pay is structured through a combination of base salary and performance incentives, like in other sports, with the former determined by seniority and past performances. Sponsorships also make up a lot of driver income and are naturally more sizeable for more well-known and marketable drivers. Although official figures are not disclosed, some media outlets, such as DirectTV and Yahoo Finance, have estimated the earnings of the drivers. As the Singapore Grand Prix gets closer, The Business Times takes a quick look at the estimated salaries of 20 of the world’s fastest drivers.