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Verstappen joins Hamilton in Forbes 2021 Highest-Paid Athletes list

  • Darshan Chokhani
    • Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, F1

    ZANDVOORT, NETHERLANDS - SEPTEMBER 04: Pole position qualifier Max Verstappen of Netherlands and Red Bull Racing and second place qualifier Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP talk in the press conference after qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of The Netherlands at Circuit Zandvoort on September 04, 2021 in Zandvoort, Netherlands. (Photo by Florent Gooden - Pool/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202109040815 // Usage for editorial use only //

    Max Verstappen has joined Lewis Hamilton in the 2021 Forbes Highest-Paid Athletes list, as the two F1 drivers are the only to represent motor racing.

    While Mercedes’ Hamilton continues to feature on the Forbes Highest-Paid Athletes list, Red Bull’s Verstappen makes an entry for the first time, as his stock rises not only in the F1 world, but also at the global level, considering his performances.

    Forbes truncated the list from Top 100 to Top 50 this time, with only Verstappen and Hamilton from the motor racing side. The earnings has been estimated for the period of May 1, 2020, and May 1, 2021 – which was marred by the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Hamilton has made inroads in the list to feature in the Top 10 in eighth, up by five places from his 2020 position. His income has risen from $54 million to $82 million, whereby his on-field earnings amounts to $70 million and off-field stands at $12 million.

    The increase of $28 million for Hamilton is on the on-field side, which likely entails prize money and the salary – it stood at $42 million in 2020. Moving on to Verstappen, the Dutchman has entered the list, straightaway onto the 27th position – inside the Top 30.

    His total earnings stands at $42.5 million, whereby $41.5 million comes from his on-field earnings, while only $1 million is from off-field. It is already more than what Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo earned, when they were on the list in 2020.

    Both have not made the Top 50 cut this year, whereby the least amount is $34 million. Vettel did earn $36.3 million as per the 2020 list, while Ricciardo had $29 million against his name. The German must have had a drop since moving to Aston Martin from Ferrari.

    As per Forbes, the calculation takes the endorsement income as an estimate of sponsorships, appearance fees and licensing incomes for the 12-month period – which is taken into account on the basis of conversations made with the insiders.

    The tax deductions or agents’ fees and investment incomes made by the athletes during the same period are not included in the above calculation. MMA fighter Conor McGregor took the #1 spot for 2021 ahead footballers Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

    Here’s the list: https://www.forbes.com/athletes/

    Here’s details from the last year’s list

    Here’s Toto Wolff on fourth PU

    Here’s Christian Horner on mighty rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen

    Here’s Lewis Hamilton on shock plus more on wheel-to-wheel racing, Toto Wolff too