Lewis Hamilton joined by three F1 rivals on Sportico's 2025 highest-paid athletes list
Sportico's 2025 Top 100 Highest-Paid Athletes list includes four Formula 1 drivers led by Lewis Hailton
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images
Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have been named on Sportico's 2025 Top 100 Highest-Paid Athletes list.
While it was Cristiano Ronaldo who topped the list, with a reported salary/winnings of $200million plus $60million in endorsements, seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton was the highest-ranking driver in 11th.
According to the list, the Briton's earnings/winnings amounted to $70million with his endorsements adding a further $30million to bring his total to $100million.
It comes as no surprise that Hamilton is estimated to have the highest endorsement earnings of the F1 drivers. According to Sportico, the endorsement figures include "earnings from sponsorships, licensing, royalties, memorabilia, appearances, golf course design, media and book deals."
The British driver has built up strong working relationships with various brands outside of the championship for years, including Dior, Lululemon and Perplexity. 2025 also saw the Ferrari driver serve as an executive producer on the F1 movie starring Brad Pitt and Damson Idris. He has also amassed 42.1 million followers on Instagram, the most of any of the drivers on the grid.
Following Hamilton is Verstappen, who has been ranked as the 15th highest-paid athlete in 2025 with $75million in earnings/winnings and $8million in endorsements.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
The only other F1 drivers to make the list were McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. While Norris claimed his first F1 drivers' title, he trailed behind Hamilton and Verstappen in 32nd place. Sportico estimated his earnings/winnings at $54million with an additional $5million in endorsements.
Piastri was ranked 96th with $35million in earnings/winnings and $3million in endorsements.
Other big sports names featured on the list included Inter Miami's Lionel Messi, Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James, Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani and golfer Rory McIlroy.
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