Formula 1: The salaries of the drivers

F ormel 1 development at any price was yesterday. At the end of the 2010 season, the next level of the savings plan comes into effect. For the first time, the large teams have to slim down in terms of personnel. When the number of employees is reduced, it ultimately depends on the quality of each individual employee. No wonder that the teams pay high salaries for top talent.

Alonso at the top

This also applies to the staff in the cockpit. The top racing teams have always found a way to turn their millions into an advantage on the track. The current front runner is Fernando Alonso, to whom his new employer Ferrari, according to expert estimates, transfers around 25 million euros to the Santander account.

In the past, no one could even get close to the salary range of Michael Schumacher, has to the record champion today came in second in the table. With 21 million euros, the new Silver Arrow star is sure to make ends meet.

Schumacher's salary again

Incidentally, the high salary for Mercedes is well invested. The Schumacher-Mercedes combination has a magical attraction for sponsors. Promotional deals, such as Petronas (oil), Monster (Energy) or Autonomy (software) would be significantly less lucrative for the racing team without Schumi.

There is already a big gap behind the two top earners in the highest horsepower league. Lewis Hamilton's fourth pay grade brings the British high earner to around 13 million euros a year. In 2007, the McLaren star began his Formula 1 career with just one million. Since winning the title in 2008 at the latest, the youngster has been receiving princely reward for his services.

Vettel also earns in the top field

In addition to Alonso, Schumacher and Hamilton, there are two other pilots whose salaries are in the double-digit million range. Sebastian Vettel comes to Red Bull on a similarly large paycheck as Felipe Massa at Ferrari. With around twelve million, the runners-up world champions of 2008 and 2009 earn not even half as much as an Alonso.

Incidentally, wage costs are a particularly large item on the balance sheet for Ferrari this year. In addition to Alonso and Massa, the Italians also have to pay the severance payment for Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn receives a whopping 17 million euros for not being in a competitor's carsitting, but struggling with the pitfalls of his Citroen C4 WRC in the World Rally Championship.

If you want to know what the other drivers earn, just click through our photo show ...