The annual list of the F1 salaries has again been published, with two world champions topping the list and a driver who is not even competing on the grand prix grid this year – coming in at third place.The report – published by the Spanish newspaper El Mundo and citing information compiled by Business Book GP – revealed that Ferrari star Fernando Alonso is on a retainer of some €30 million, supplemented by his external endorsements.
That is almost twice the salary that the Oviedo native's former team-mate and sworn rival currently Lewis Hamilton earns at the McLaren-Mercedes, whose €16 million pay packet is virtually the same as what World Rally Championship convert Kimi Raikkonen is receiving as the Finn continues to benefit handsomely indeed from his early Ferrari pay-off.
Next up is Felipe Massa on €14 million – notably, less than half of what team-mate Alonso is on – with defending F1 World Champion Jenson Button fifth on €9 million, just ahead of the Mercedes Grand Prix's Michael Schumacher, whose €8 million remuneration is arguably generous indeed for the comparatively poor on-track return that the German legend has provided on his desperately disappointing comeback to active competition thus far this year.
In a laudable policy of equality, however, Schumacher's team-mate Nico Rosberg is on exactly the same retainer with the Renault F1's Robert Kubica – in many observers' eyes, the star of the season to-date – on €7.5 million.
A significant surprise if the findings are accurate, is that both Williams' ultra-experienced veteran Rubens Barrichello is on more money at €5.5 million than either current world championship leader Mark Webber or Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull Racing, with the Australian perhaps similarly unexpectedly receiving more than the German with €4.2 million to €2 million – though both are understood to be on substantial bonus agreements for every victory notched up.
Bringing up the rear of the list are Sauber duo Pedro de la Rosa and Kamui Kobayashi on €500,000 apiece, Renault's Vitaly Petrov and Scuderia Toro Rosso pairing Jaime Alguersuari and Sébastien Buemi on €400,000 each and Force India's Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi and Virgin new boy Lucas di Grassi all on €200,000. The final 'paid' driver, Hispania Racing's Bruno Senna, is on just €150,000 – or, to put it into perspective, roughly 200 times less than Alonso.
The figures make Ferrari comfortably the highest spender of the year in terms of the driver expense, with (€60 million) or without (€44 million) Raikkonen taken into consideration, as the full list below shows. The ranking on the far right is current championship position
Drivers:
- Fernando Alonso Ferrari €30m 5th
- Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes €16m 2nd
- Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari €16m N/A
- Felipe Massa Ferrari €14m 6th
- Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes €9m 4th
- Michael Schumacher Mercedes Grand Prix €8m 9th
- Nico Rosberg Mercedes Grand Prix €8m 7th
- Robert Kubica Renault F1 €7.5m 8th
- Rubens Barrichello Williams F1 €5.5m 11th
- Mark Webber Red Bull Racing €4.2m 1st
- Jarno Trulli Lotus Racing €3m 19th=
- Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing €2m 3rd
- Heikki Kovalainen Lotus Racing €2m 19th=
- Timo Glock Virgin Racing €1m 19th=
- Nico Hülkenberg Williams F1 €700,000 15th
- Pedro de la Rosa Sauber €500,000 17th
- Kamui Kobayashi Sauber €500,000 12th=
- Vitaly Petrov Renault F1 €400,000 12th=
- Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso €400,000 18th
- Sébastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso €400,000 16th
- Adrian Sutil Force India F1 €200,000 10th
- Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India F1 €200,000 14th
- Lucas Di Grassi Virgin Racing €200,000 19th=
- Bruno Senna Hispania Racing €150,000 19th=
- Karun Chandhok Hispania Racing €Nil 19th=
- Sakon Yamamoto Hispania Racing €Nil 19th =
