A recent Forbes report published December 9, 2025, lays bare what most sensible Americans suspected: Formula 1’s top drivers are raking in staggering sums while the rest of the country grinds it out. Forbes estimates the ten highest-paid drivers pulled in a combined $363 million in salary and bonuses this year, a figure that should make every blue-collar worker do a double take.
At the top of the heap sits Max Verstappen with an estimated $76 million in total compensation, followed by Lewis Hamilton at $70.5 million and Lando Norris at $57.5 million — numbers that read more like corporate CEO pay than athlete wages. These are not fringe guesses; Forbes’ breakdown lists salary and bonus components for each driver, proving this isn’t just tabloid exaggeration.
Lando Norris’s story is especially galling from a populist point of view: the young Brit just fought tooth and nail to become the 2025 world champion, yet he still trails in the money race because of the way contracts and bonuses are structured. Forbes’ profile shows Norris earned around $18 million in base salary and piled up nearly $40 million in performance bonuses — proof that on-track success translates into massive paydays for those already at the summit.
Look, nobody begrudges athletes making money when they deliver value, but these sums reveal a global elite insulated from the everyday struggles of Americans paying their mortgages and filling their gas tanks. Independent outlets that echoed the Forbes list show the same top-ten picture, underlining that this is the new normal in a sport increasingly dominated by billionaire owners, billionaire sponsors, and tax-friendly havens.
This isn’t just about drivers — Formula 1 has become a multibillion-dollar entertainment-industrial complex where teams and corporations cash in at every turn. Forbes itself notes the massive financial scale of the sport and explains its methodology for estimating pay, so we’re not talking conspiracy theory but cold, well-documented economics. If America’s middle class wants to understand where global capital flows, paying attention to F1’s pay structure is instructive.
There’s a conservative case to be made for celebrating meritocracy: these drivers earned their pay through skill, risk, and sacrifice on world stages. But merit doesn’t excuse the grotesque disconnect between world-class entertainers and everyday working families, and it certainly shouldn’t let media and corporate interests pretend the system is morally neutral. Even Lewis Hamilton, who took a headline-making switch to Ferrari this season, publicly called parts of his year a “nightmare,” a reminder that the glamour is often matched by constant pressure — not the same as stable, honest American labor.
Patriots should cheer competition without worshiping gilded outcomes. Celebrate the talent and spectacle, yes, but don’t let the global elites use performance as a cover for obscene concentration of wealth while hardworking Americans are left behind. If we value true opportunity, we’ll demand transparency, accountability, and a culture that prizes productive work at every level — not just the high-paid winners standing on the podium.
