What Did Drivers Get Paid in 2009..

[Fil]

Full list of F1 2009 driver salaries:

1. Kimi Raikkonen $45m (£27.35 million)
2. Lewis Hamilton $18m
3. Fernando Alonso $15m
4. Nico Rosberg $8.5m
5. Felipe Massa $8m
6. Jarno Trulli $6.5m
7. Sebastian Vettel $6m
8. Mark Webber $5.5m
9. Jenson Button $5m
10. Robert Kubica $4.5m
11. Heikki Kovalainen $3.5m
12. Nick Heidfeld $2.8m
13. Timo Glock $2m
14. Giancarlo Fisichella $1.5m
15. Sébastien Buemi $1.5m
16. Rubens Barrichello $1m
17. Jaime Alguersuari $0.5m
18. Vitantonio Liuzzi $Nil
19. Adrian Sutil $Nil
20. Romain Grosjean $Nil
21. Kazuki Nakajima $Nil

Source:Arabian Business 28.10.09


List compiled by Tom Rubython, who has had quite the checkered past in F1 circles..

Feels reasonably accurate and sensible, definitely worthy of discussion.

My initial reactions are of Trulli, Heikki & Kimi being overpaid, Rubens is a bargain & i'm surprised Sutil is still a pay-driver.

[compo]

[marcush.]

with Rubens still able to give his Jet to poor Jenson to fly back on his own schedule , my feelings for RB and Jenson are modest in that regard...he did win races this year and will surely earn a lot more next year....

[astracrazy]

18. Vitantonio Liuzzi $Nil
19. Adrian Sutil $Nil
20. Romain Grosjean $Nil
21. Kazuki Nakajima $Nil

So they were on a per race basis? Or just payed for where they finished? Surely not paid at all....

[ISLAMATRON]

Both Lewis & Alonso make alot more than that, according to the reports I have read over the last couple of years.

Why would Williams be paying Nico so much? especially with such a strained budget, I doubt that number for Nico.

The bottom 4 bring in personal sponsorship to the team and are paid out of that, but not much really, maybe $300k or so.

[Pup]

I think if Alosno makes more, it's through point bonuses and endorsements. He took a big cut to go to Renault, and that's the figure I remember from when he signed. Hamilton's salary may indeed be higher. I seem to remember that his deal included an automatic raise to $25M if he were to win the championship.

Kimi's is the last of the big salaries - he really lucked out to have signed when he did. The same could have been said about Alonso had he not blown it. He had a $40M/year contract with McLaren. Actually, one could say that he bore the brunt of McLaren's FIA fine in a way - he came out $50M poorer on the deal while McLaren saved almost $75M in salaries by replacing him with Kovy. Plus they kept Santander. Hey, they may have come out ahead on the deal!

[Roland Ehnström]

What I find funny is that even if Kimi doesn't race at all next year, he may still be the highest paid F1 driver in 2010.

[Confused_Andy]

everyone needs to earn a living but when youve got people losing their jobs due to cost cutting these figures make me want to puke its disguting that they take so much money from teams when they earn 10x that amount in private sponsorship anyway

goony

If you really want to feel sick go take a look at football...

At least in formula 1 their salaries can sometimes* be justified as its a very risky sport.

*Kimi the exception...

[ISLAMATRON]

What I find funny is that even if Kimi doesn't race at all next year, he may still be the highest paid F1 driver in 2010.

Reports are that Alonso is getting 50 mil for 2010, or maybe not.

[Pup]

I've read €25M, or about $37M. Still, that will likely make him the highest paid driver, and it seems high in the current climate. That might be because the contract terms were agreed upon two years ago?

[Ray]

Both Lewis & Alonso make alot more than that, according to the reports I have read over the last couple of years.

Why would Williams be paying Nico so much? especially with such a strained budget, I doubt that number for Nico.

The bottom 4 bring in personal sponsorship to the team and are paid out of that, but not much really, maybe $300k or so.

Probably because Kaz barely knows what end the car goes forward! I'm sure Nico could have bargained a higher salary because he's doing the lions share of the work, I know I would.

[ISLAMATRON]

I've read €25M, or about $37M. Still, that will likely make him the highest paid driver, and it seems high in the current climate. That might be because the contract terms were agreed upon two years ago?

hmmm, I thought 1 Euro is closer to $2 than it was to $1.50, but ok

[Pup]

1.5 and easily checked. But ok.

[Dukeage]

The problem with these figures is bonuses, as already has been mentioned. If F1 were to bring in a budget cap or a salary cap including drivers, bonuses may have to work like the NFL salary cap - if your driver fulfilled the criteria last year, the bonus is counted towards the cap (but you get a cap increase of the bonus next year if your driver doesn't get the bonus), if not it's classified as not likely to be earned so it'll be deducted from the cap next year if it is earned.

[ESPImperium]

Buemi and Glock are bargins with Bob Kubica, both RBR drivers and Button being a choice #1 driver for 09 makes a good team.

Why arent theese drivers included:

Luca Badoer
Rubens Barrichello
Nelson Piquet
Sebastian Bourdais

There has been 25 drivers take to the race track this year according to my records.