Formula 1: Max Verstappen, a world champion that Red Bull pays a high price for

Thanks to Max Verstappen, the Red Bull team put an end to Mercedes' hegemony over the Formula 1 World Championship last year, which began in 2014. The Austrian structure is ready to make financial splurges to keep very long his Dutch nugget crowned for the third time this weekend. In March 2022, the bull stable extended its pilot for five additional years while his contract was initially due to end at the end of this season.

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According to several sources, the agreement until 2028 would cover a salary of just over 52 million euros per season. Emoluments which make the Batavian the highest paid driver on the grid, far ahead of Lewis Hamilton (38 years old) who, despite his seven crowns and his record of victories (103), must be “content” with 33 million euros with Mercedes. The podium is completed by Charles Leclerc, who receives 23 million euros at Ferrari.

If Red Bull agrees to break the bank by paying its champion five times more than his teammate Sergio Perez (the Mexican receives a little less than ten million euros), it is also because Verstappen is an alien in terms of precocity. The Hasselt, Belgium native was the youngest driver to win a grand prix (at 18 years, 7 months and 15 days) in 2016 in Barcelona. At 26 years old, he therefore has many years left to assert his reign over F1 even if he is not very enthusiastic about the evolution of the discipline. The expansion of the championship to twenty-four races and the multiplication of sprint events on Saturday is not to the taste of “Mad Max” who suggested that he could tire quickly and consider other challenges if this trend was confirmed.

With a high estimate (57 million euros per season), Forbes places Verstappen 22nd in the hierarchy of the highest paid athletes on the planet, but just behind… Lewis Hamilton. Because the American magazine takes sponsorship contracts into account in its calculation and the Briton is, in this area, still a clear step ahead of his successor in the World Championship rankings. Bose, Electronic Arts, Monster Energy, Police, Puma, Tommy Hilfiger are selling the image of the seven-time world champion for around 10 million euros while Verstappen would receive a little less than four thanks, in particular, to Electronic Arts and Heineken. The Dutchman is not yet a brand magnet like the Briton can be, but time and results point to a reversal of roles.