Oscar Piastri may have missed out on the 2025 drivers’ title, but financially, he emerged as one of the year’s biggest victors. Forbes’ newly released F1 earnings list exposed just how lucrative the season proved for him, highlighting a massive surge in bonuses that catapulted the young Australian into the sport’s elite earners.
At the top of the financial hierarchy stood Max Verstappen, whose staggering $114 million haul reaffirmed his status as Formula One’s richest star. Lewis Hamilton, despite a difficult first season with Ferrari and a podium-less campaign, followed closely with $106 million — though his bonus earnings were shockingly small compared to the rest of the grid. Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc delivered a stronger on-track performance than Hamilton, yet received no bonuses at all despite amassing 242 points.
New world champion Lando Norris also enjoyed a financial windfall, pulling in more than $86 million, largely driven by nearly $60 million in bonuses. Just behind him, Piastri secured his most profitable season yet, earning an estimated $56 million through a mix of a $15 million salary and an extraordinary $41 million in bonuses — more than doubling his previous year’s bonus total.
Forbes clarified that off-track revenue, such as endorsements, was excluded from the calculations. Bonuses varied widely depending on team structure, points scored, and overall achievements. The final ranking revealed a dramatic wealth gap across the grid, with veterans like Fernando Alonso and George Russell also securing comfortable positions among the top earners.
The 2025 list underscored the financial stakes of modern Formula One, showing how performance, team success, and contract incentives can dramatically reshape a driver’s fortunes — and how Piastri’s rapid rise has firmly placed him among the sport’s richest competitors.
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