Max Verstappen beats Lewis Hamilton by £4M to stay as the highest-paid driver on the 2025 F1 grid: Reports

It is being reported that Red Bull driver Max Verstappen has once again beaten Lewis Hamilton on the list of the highest-paid drivers ahead of the 2025 season. The duo are arguably two of the most popular drivers in the sport right now and have shared some legendary moments and battles with each other on the track.

After winning his first title at the end of the 2021 season, the Dutch driver signed a long-term contract with the Austrian team. He will race for them until the end of the 2028 season, and his annual salary, after bonuses, will reach $80 million.

As reported by The Sun, despite joining Ferrari in 2025 and getting a salary bump, Hamilton will stay behind Verstappen as far as the list of highest-paid drivers for the season is concerned. The seven-time F1 world champion trails his archrival by a mere £4m as he will earn around £48m with the Italian team this year as compared to Verstappen's £52m.

The pair have a substantial gap to Charles Leclerc, who sits in third on the list. Leclerc will earn £27m in 2025, almost half compared to the reigning four-time F1 world champion. Former two-time world champion Fernando Alonso and McLaren's Lando Norris share the P4 slot with an annual salary of £16m for the upcoming season.

Max Verstappen and Christian Horner clear the air on Aston Martin's $1billion offer

While reacting to the $1 billion offer from Aston Martin, Red Bull driver Max Verstappen confirmed that he had been in talks with the British brand over a potential contract, but not for the F1 seat.

While the Silverstone-based outfit denied making any billion-dollar offer, here's what the 27-year-old said while speaking to the media (via PlanetF1):

“It’s a lot of money! Honestly, when I read that for the first time, I saw something like that, the only contact that I had with them was about GT3 for this year. That’s it. There is not much to say really, because there isn’t anything!”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner too was left a bit startled by the amount and added:

“I know you guys have all got column inches to fill over a winter period, but a billion-dollar driver…? It’s an eye-wateringly large amount of money. I think Max is very happy in the environment that he’s in. He’s grown up in the team.

"He has a great relationship with the team, the engineers, the technicians, and everybody that he works with. It’s down to us to provide a competitive car and continue to give him the platform to be able to achieve the results that he has over the last almost 10 years.”

Last year there were rumors linking Max Verstappen to a move to Mercedes to replace Lewis Hamilton but the Dutch driver stayed put with Red Bull and mentioned that he would honor his contract with them.