Racing drivers are hard to miss and even harder to catch. But do you ever wonder how much they earn while driving little cars and pressing legs on the accelerator? They are among the top moneymakers in the sports business. Formula one is considered the premier class of motorsports. Every year, top Formula 1 drivers make millions and give the statement “quick money” absolutely a new explanation. The net worth of F1 drivers is equal to and even more than some of the biggest Hollywood stars. Yes, by driving “little car,” they make money to buy big and luxurious cars and mansions. Here, we are going to list down the richest racing drivers of all time.
Michael Schumacher
With the fortune of over 800 million dollars, this 51-year-old racing driver from Germany is the richest racing driver. Schumacher is one of the biggest names in racing sports and he is thought to be one of the successful drivers in the F1 all time. In his career of 17 years (1991-2006 and 2010-2012), he has made several world championships titles (7) on his names. He holds several records in the sports to his name and undoubtedly, he tops every list of the richest racing driver with his whopping net worth of $800M – the gap between his net worth and the second name the list says it all.
Eddie Jordan
The former racing driver, who also founded Jordan Grand Pix in 1990, has made a whopping net worth of $475M and grabbed the second rank on our list. In his long career as a racer as well as team manager, he also owned an F1 team and many big names in the sports such as Michael Schumacher, Damon Hill, Ralf Schumacher, and several others competed for his team. So, the former Bank of Ireland employee “straight outta Dublin” is now among the richest racing drivers with a fortune earned from his career and team.
Don Schumacher
The great Don Schumacher at the age of 75, is considered to be one of the richest drivers in the world. He commenced his career in the 60s in the drag racing and retired in 1974 to come back again to the sports after twenty-three years with this son Tony. He owns Schumacher Electric Corporation and the total estimated net worth of this legendary American racer is $300M.
Lewis Hamilton
This young racing driver from the United Kingdom has not only made a big name in the sports but has also made a fortune of around $280 million according to 2020. The 35-year-old driver started in 2007 in Formula 1. He broke the record of Michael Schumacher’s 68 pole positions in 2017 and got his World Championship title in the second year of his career. He is one of the biggest names in racing sports who are currently active. He has the potential to make several records in F1 and he is considered as “the best ever” by many motorsport managers like Ron Dennis.
Fernando Alonso
Alonso has been the winner of Grand Prix and grabbed Formula 1 World Championship twice in 2005 and followed the next year with Renault. The 39-year-old Spanish racing driver was the youngest driver in the F1 history to win World Championship. With Toyota, in 2019, Fernando grabbed the World Championship title at WEC. His successful career has earned him lots of money in his bank account along with three world championships in the sports. His net worth is considered to be nearly $239 million and he is set to return to Formula 1 in 2021.
Jeff Gordon
Gordon former automobile racing driver from the US, who became popular for his successful career in NASCAR. This 48-year-old racing driver is currently an announcer at NASCAR. He began motorsports when he was five and he won short track races three times even before he was 18. With the estimated fortune of around 200 million dollars, he is among the top ten richest racing drivers of the planet.
Kimi Raikkonen
Kimi Raikkonen has made a fortune of around 150 million dollars in his racing career which began at the age of nine with karting and he jumped into Formula 1 in 2001 to grab the title of World Championship in 2007. He is the third most successful racer in the sports with 45 fastest laps – behind Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton. He is the only Formula One racing driver from Finland to clutched most wins.
Jenson Button
Jenson Button had a long and successful career of 17 years with Formula 1 and won the World Championship title in 2009. After ending his career from F1, he started participating in the Super GT series and became champion in 2018. This 40-year old racing driver from Britain had started karting at the age of 8 and has made a fortune of nearly 150 million dollars from his career.
Valentino Rossi
We are ending the list by “The GOAT” Valentino Rossi. This Italian motorcycle is believed to the greatest in sports of all time. He has won the world championship title in Grand Prix nine times. This 41-year old racer has made a big balance of nearly $140 million from his racing career. He has worn 46 numbers throughout his career which was the trademark of his father Graziano Rossi.