Apologies if there's already a thread for this (I searched and couldn't find one), but I just found this list of 2009 F1 driver salaries, compiled by Tom Rubython (of BusinessF1 and Ayrton Senna biography fame). It makes for interesting reading!

Full list of F1 2009 driver salaries:

1. Kimi Raikkonen $45m
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


What the F1 teams spent on drivers in 2009:

1. Ferrari $53m
2. McLaren-Mercedes $21.5m
3. Renault $15m
4. Red Bull Racing $11.5m
5. Toyota $8.5
6. Williams $8.5m
7. BMW-Sauber $7.3m
8. Brawn GP $6m
9. Scuderia Toro Rosso $2m
10. Force India $1.5m

Source

According to my calculations, $ per point:

1. Kimi Raikkonen - $937,500
2. Fernando Alonso - $576,923
3. Lewis Hamilton - $367,347
4. Felipe Massa - $363,636
5. Sebastien Buemi - $300,000
6. Robert Kubica - $264,706
7. Nico Rosberg - $246,377
8. Jarno Trulli - $213,115
9. Giancarlo Fisichella - $187,500
10. Nick Heidfeld - $186,667
11. Heikki Kovalainen - $159,091
12. Mark Webber - $89,431
13. Timo Glock - $83,333
14. Sebastian Vettel - $81,081
15. Jenson Button - $56,180
16. Rubens Barrichello - $13,889

I think it's clear to see how this year's shake-up in performance has altered the driver market, and this information could be one of the reasons why the "silly season" has been dragging on longer than usual.

Rubens really is an absolute bargain. He should sack his manager. And get the Robertsons to fight his corner.

Still such a massive pay disparity between Raikkonen and Massa after Massa's performance last year?

Could be true. cost/point is a useless stat.

Kimi, The Robertsons

Thats quite a paycheck.

STR pay for Buemi and Jamie whilst Sutil and Luizzi is free? What a joke. Both are better drivers 10fold!

If Buemi really is getting $1.5mil I will be amazed!

The step from Lewis to Kimi is insane!!

Looking at that list again, had Rubens and Button got their original pay I do believe Button would be 4th with Rubens 5th as far as I remember.

Goes without saying that $ per point is far from representative of what the actual value for the money of every driver is. Wanna bet Jenson and Rubens were top 5 in the other side of the scale last year?

This isn't to defend my driver Kimi - I'm very well aware that he's overpaid.

all about timing of the deal and fanbase at the time the signed.

I am 99.9% certain that (for this season at the very least) Vettel's wage is less than Webber's.

Edit: should probably say what. Was under the impression Vettel is on £2m and Webber £4m. Convert to $.

Wonder if Massa is still getting any money now that he's injured. Is he inssured? Who inssures him? The team or driver?

If the data is correct, Kimi is really an dinosaur, from other times.
And Trulli is very overpaid too.

I'm lazy right now, but would be interesting to compare that data with the 2010 Silly Season.

why do you say that? when did webber and vettel sign their contract and for how long?

Sutil really needs to get a paycheck, could perhaps afford a jogging coach

So then, what would you rather? A Hamilton, Rosberg and Alonso for $41.5m OR Raikkonen for $45m?

I consider that a bullshit list. The teams keep saying the figures in the press are way off the mark, but no one believes them. Kimi's salary is ridiculous.

Webber extended his two-year contract for this season back in summer 2008 and negotiated a decent package (more than the £3.25m he was on at the time), this before Red Bull signed Vettel who was on peanuts at Toro Rosso. They (Red Bull) offered him more, but not a significant amount.

I am staggered at Ferarri's stupidity, Kimi never had the character to offer himn that kind of money. That's laughable and I said it when he was signed, when he was re-signed and now lookin gback.

Idiots, who answers for throwing away the best part of $100M?

IMHO Rosberg was atad over paid as well.

I totally concur, seriously how on earth could they agree to such a price ?

Kimi - pigs get fat hogs get slaughtered.

Really? Rosberg $8.5m? that's obscene. The kid's never won a race. He's a bit unproven for that salary.

Who would you choose if you had $8.5/yr for a driver? Vettel, Rosberg, Massa, Button, Barrichello, Glock? It sure as hell wouldn't be Rosberg if I were ponying up the dough.

I believe..
Massa $12.5M
Heidfeld $10~8.5M

Sutil brings $15M in ponsorship.
Rubens is only paid for transportation expenses... his jetplane.

it's all supply and demand.
Kimi got his contract during a bidding war with McLaren, McLaren had a option to keep Kimi for 50million, McLaren believed they could keep him for less, then Ferrari snatched him away.

Rosberg is paid a lot because McLaren wanted him instead of kova. he got Williams 34.5 points vs the 0 of Nakayama, so he could be very worth the money.

Agree, even if Kimi had Schumacher level speed (which he clearly does not) he was not worth that kind of money. Is Kimi really worth more than five times Felipe? If you ask me even Felipe is overpaid, a second tier driver like him should be in 2.5-3 million bracket. Ferrari have wasted so much money on Kimi it is shocking. And he is still gonna take away tens of million from them this year inspite of not driving for them.

for 2.5-3 million you could hire heidfeld (0 gp wins) or worse. Massa already won 5 gp's when he extended his contract.

Figures according to Sports illustrated with endorsements:

Raikkonen - 40 100 million
Alonso - 35 million
Hamilton - 32 800 million
Button - 21 100 million

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/spec...9/index.20.html

Why the hell would Macca want Kimi back for that price when they have Lewis (a better driver arguably) for less than half of his salary

To clarify, that list includes winnings and bonuses, whereas the list I quoted only includes (estimated) salaries.

Just how much have Michael Schumacher made during his time? Economy was much better.

Who says that Kimi is asking the same amount of Mclaren? This is just a list of what drivers supposedly earned, it really hasn't got anything to do with negotiations between Kimi and Mclaren.

List is wrong
a) cause it's compiled by Tom Rubython
and b) cause it's fairly well known that BMW pays Kubica and Heidfeld an even $8m each


beyond that, Raikkonen's earnings seem insane but keep in mind that's what happens when you have options that if taken up increase the value of the contract. He had a similar contract with McLaren which Ron tried to let lapse then pick him back up cheaper, Ferrari got in the middle and paid the price.

EDIT: Oh and Rosberg is around the $3.5m mark, nowhere near $8.5m

I agree with the recent concensus that the list is BS. Rosberg 8.5M
That would make him the highest paid Williams driver ever wouldn't it? At a time when they have been losing sponsorship and doing it tough. Even as a Rosberg fan I regard it as unworthy reward for a young guy still getting established.

I recall a comment from a well respected insider recently to the effect that you don't believe the telephone numbers some of the media are touting as fact, they are in most cases way over the top. So Kimi towers over the F1 driver scene? Maybe he did negotiate a very good contract but I doubt he would be regarded in Schumie territory by any team, especially Ferrari.

That's what I read multiple times aswell.

And I don't believe the figures of Rosberg (to high), Massa (to low) and Vettel in relation to Webber. Liuzzi(!), Sutil, Grosjean and Nakajima are pay drivers and don't get any salery at all?! Ok, the latter ofc is (however he's paid by Toyota - how much?) ... but the rest? I thought the era of pay drivers was 'paused' for a few years...

yeah, if these figures are correct (which i seriously doubt) then Nico is completely taking the piss at 8.5m...

Another story...by Tom Rubython.

b) is widely known and often mentioned.

Last year (2008) it was $11 each.

Why do people complain about Rosberg's pay? I mean, he's being paid to drive a sh*tbox, they better make it worth his while, I'm sure he'd take a pay cut if he were driving a winning car.

When you get paid to drive a bad car, and you deserve a better one, it's totally understandable to overpay a quality driver.

Having said that, boy, that Ruben's sure is good bang for the buck!!!

Kimi is great but i think Ferrari need to reassess the kind of monies they payout to their drivers..

This list and any list will always be wrong. All drivers are compensated in different ways, based on contracts put together between their team and their representing agent, as well as a number of legal experts.

Some teams pay a high 'salary' which is then basically an 'all inclusive deal', and the driver have all his obligations to the team and the team sponsors under that.

Some teams pay middle level 'salary', which then only take up xx% of the time, and sponsorship places on the drivers suit and helmet, rest is for the driver to sell and market.

Some drivers are paid zero by the team, but are bringing in a sponsor which fund the driver and the team with xx millions.

Read the interview with Nico from the last week, he makes a list of what he have been doing since last race.

Simulator
Randstadt arrangement
RBS arrangement
Simulator
Some other arrangement

So he is clearly doing what the teams sponsors wants him to do, so his pay is 'all inclusive'.

Lewis Hamilton when he extended with McLaren was as far as I recall getting Usd 45 million per year then, so that does not match the numbers on the list.

By and large the numbers are actually lower for most, compared to what I thought they were making, saying this right after I say the list is wrong

Someone asked how much Schumacher made, I think that he is estimated to have made about Usd 600 million in total from driving and endorsements over his career.

Most of the season Williams has been a great and competetive car. It looks bad because Nakajima is so terrible

Kimi should offer 30m of his salary to the majority of the drivers who are grossly underpaid.

Everything you read on the internet is true.





That was ment sarcastic. I don't believe these stats are confirm reality.

Does Kimi´s salary include the money Ferrari paid for sacking him. On one list I saw Kimi´s salary is 25 m/year.

I think I've calculated the same thing a year back, and let's just say neither Rubinho nor (especially) JB were good bargain...

It´s absolutely embarrassing Raikkonen to be paid such an amount of money. Hamilton and Alonso too, but at least they have been always ahead of their team mates.

To put it kindly, these lists are pulled from journo arses. They don't have any clue who pays how much to who, they just ask janitors / invent rumors and then copy them from each other.

Why not go further and create a workers union to compensate the salaries among the exployted comerads

Very very interesting.

Point per $ is not really fair given that some drivers pulled out more from underperforming cars and vise versa.

IMO Rubens is by far the hardest done by, not Button.

Rosberg by comparison is doing very well and may explain why Button feels he's hard done by. Raikonnen is a surprise. He raked it in!!

The one who is asking is not the stupid one, it's the one paying what is asked.

His salary must be based on something, that the one who is paying beleaves to create even more value, WDC for example...

And be honest and say you didn't try to get as much money from your employer as possible

As much as I rate Rosberg, given Williams financial situation, I think they vastly overpay Rosberg.

What I have read Kimi's salary has varied from 25mil$ to 60mil$ and it might be even something outside these figures, we will never know for sure.
Personally I believe the amount of money payed in REAL life is much less than in these rumours...

If the Rosberg figure is true....

I think he's worth it. Why? Well, without a driver of his calibre the williams cars would be scrapping at the back (see Nakajima), which in turn would make it hard to bring in sponsorship. Secondly Rosberg has collected a boat load of points for the team, helping them to 6th in the constructors race, also bringing in more money.

So given Williams extreemly limited budget, I think rosberg at least equalled his worth this year.