Racing has always drawn big money, and it's not hard to see why. The sport is filled with exhilarating moments and dramatic crashes, and drivers put their lives on the line every time they step into their cars. On top of that, it's a prestige sport, with big names often coming from well-known families and elite companies paying the big bucks to put their brand names on the winning car. That's why drivers are some of the highest-paid athletes in the world, and we've gathered the names of the wealthiest racers and their net worths, ranked.
40. Andrea Dovizioso - $1m
Andrea Dovizioso is an Italian MotoGP driver who's worth around $1 million. While he's retired now, he's still widely regarded as a legend in the sport by many, and when he did race, he went by the nickname, "The Professor." These days, he mostly spends his time off-roading, which is a pretty big hobby of his. He was inducted into the MotoGP Hall of Fame late in 2023.
Before he retired, Dovizioso said part of the reason he was doing so was because of the changes happening in the sport and his inability to get used to the new bikes.
39. Francesco Bagnaia - $4m
Francesco Bagnaia has made some pretty big splashes since entering into MotoGP. Not only did he take home the championship in 2022, but he shocked just about everyone and took home a second championship only a year later. He's estimated to be worth around $4 million, but if he keeps putting up results like he did in 2022 and 2023, he is destined to be one of the biggest names in the sport.
The Italian racer started driving at a very young age. He reportedly began driving bikes when he was only a child, and began competing in races around 2010, when he was still only a teenager.
38. Oscar Piastri - $4m
Australian driver Oscar Piastri is only 22 years old, but he's shown real promise, and he's currently racing for one of the biggest names in Formula One, McLaren. He's still early in his career, and he only has 22 starts in Formula One, but he's had two podium finishes. Piastri also managed to capture three championships in three different circuits aside from Formula One, so the future looks very bright.
He has a net worth of around $4 million, but given that he's driving for one of the top teams in the sport, that number is probably going to skyrocket in the coming years.
37. Casey Stoner - $14m
Casey Stoner is a now-retired driver from Australia who's estimated to be worth around $14 million. Stoner had immense success racing MotoGP bikes, which is one of the most intense and dangerous racing events in the world. While it's common for drivers, no matter where they race, to occasionally switch teams, it's not common for them to do what Stoner did. No matter where he went, he managed to find success.
Stoner managed to win a championship for both Honda and Ducati. No matter where he went, he proved he was capable of climbing to the pinnacle of the sport.
36. George Russell - $16m
George Russell is a new face in Formula One, but he's already amassed a $16 million fortune. The British driver races for Mercedes, which is one of the biggest names in the sport, and it explains the massive net worth. In a sport that's been known to host drivers from prestigious, and often even royal backgrounds, Russell comes from a relatively normal family. Russell's motto, is reportedly, "If in doubt, go flat out."
He's just getting his start, but many have high hopes for Russell, and if those hopes pan out, you can expect to see his net worth skyrocket over the coming years.
35. Jorge Lorenzo - $23m
George Lorenzo made a name for himself racing bikes in MotoGP. He managed to build a net worth somewhere between $20 million and $25 million before eventually retiring pretty comfortably at a young age. The Spanish driver had an impressive 47 wins to his name when he called it quits. On top of that, he'd won the championship three different times. He's considered one of the greats, especially in his home country.
Although he's since retired from MotoGP, he does compete in other types of motorsports. His main focus has been to compete in the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia, driving cars.
34. Marc Marquez - $25m
Nicknames are pretty common in the sports world. However, they're usually complimentary. That's not the case for Marc Marquez, who is sometimes referred to as "the ant of Cervera" for his short height. Still, Marquez has made a huge impact in the world of racing. The Spanish racer six MotoGP championships during his time, while others hope to only win one. He has 59 total first-place finishes in the sport.
He's spent most of his time racing for Honda, and contributed to their success to a large degree. However, he now races for Ducati, and he doesn't show any signs of slowing down anytime soon.
33. Lando Norris - $30m
Lando Norris is worth around $30 million. And while that is a lot of money, it's actually only a drop in the bucket when compared to his family's net worth. Norris's father is around the 610th richest man in the U.K., according to The Times. Still, the younger Norris hasn't done too bad for himself. He entered Formula One when he was only 19 years old and had a stellar rookie season.
He's had some 13 podium finishes in his short career so far, and he currently races for McLaren, one of the most prestigious teams in Formula One. Some think it's only a matter of time before he breaks through and claims a win.
32. Pierre Gasly - $33m
French driver Pierre Gasly comes from a long line of drivers. Gasly currently represents Alpine in the Formula One circuit and last placed first back in 2020. However, he's reached the podium four other times. While it's not uncommon to see a driver whose father raced, not only did Gasly's own dad drive race cars, but so did his grandfather. The young Gasly is worth an estimated $33 million.
Like some other drivers on this list, Gasly started racing at a young age and initially drove in Formula 4 when he was only 15 years old, before moving on to bigger circuits.
31. Alex Rins - $40m
Alex Rins is another very successful Spanish MotoGP driver. Although he spent most of his time with Honda, he currently races for Monster Energy Yamaha. Rins is estimated to be worth around $40 million. He's had six wins during his short career, but Yamaha has big hopes for Rins for the 2024 season. He's coming off an injury and broken leg he sustained in a crash during the 2023 season.
Before he started racing in MotoGP, Rins competed for several years in lower circuits, and he did pretty well for himself, so many expect him to succeed in the sport's top circuit.
30. Carlos Sainz Jr. - $49m
Carlos Sainz Jr. is a Spanish driver who races for Ferrari. He's won two races thus far. However, he comes from a family in which racing is entrenched. His father was a rally car driver and picked up two championships of his own in the early 1990s. Sainz Jr. is worth around $49 million. While he's only picked up a couple of wins so far, he's managed to place pretty high at the end of the season.
Many have said that the only reason he didn't win more was because of who he had as his teammate at Red Bull, a certain someone named Max Verstappen.
29. Jacques Villeneuve - $50m
In the racing world, it doesn't get much more prestigious than the name Ferrari. That's who Jacques Villeneuve's father raced for before his son joined Formula One. The younger Villeneuve is now considered a legend in his own right, having been inducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame. He also won the Formula One Championship back in 1997. Today, he's worth somewhere around a whopping $50 million, according to estimates.
Villeneuve initially retired in 2006, but he made a brief comeback in 2023 before once again bowing out of the racing world. He also got married the same year.
28. Daniel Ricciardo - $50m
Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo has had a pretty successful career so far. It's been so successful that it has netted him around $50 million. He's finished first in eight Formula One races throughout his career and placed on the podium around 32 different times. He most recently signed with Red Bull, one of the most successful teams in the sport, so he's probably going to see his net worth rise over the course of the next couple of years.
The Australian driver got his start racing karts when he was a kid, which, believe it or not, is what a lot of racers start with when they're young.
27. Nico Rosberg - $50m
Success just seems to follow some people around, and Nico Rosberg is some people. He only raced Formula One for 10 years, but he won 23 races and made podium appearances 57 times. In 2016, he won the championship before retiring the same year while he was at his best. Rosberg now spends most of his time running a creamery in Ibiza with his wife and family, which doesn't sound like a bad way to spend retirement.
Rosberg's father was also a Formula One racer, and he clinched the 1982 championship a little over 10 years before his son was born. The younger Rosburg has an estimated net worth of around $50 million.
26. Lance Stroll - $50m
Lance Stroll is an up-and-coming driver who races for Aston Martin. During his rookie season, he became the youngest driver to ever have a podium finish. Stroll is now entering his eighth season, but it doesn't look like he has to worry about his spot on the team since the team is partly owned by his father, although pressure is building to live up to his phenomenal rookie season. The Canadian driver is worth around $50 million.
There have been rumors that he could possibly retire from the sport soon, but those haven't been confirmed and if so, he'd be walking away with more than enough money.
25. Ryan Newman - $50m
Ryan Newman has had a pretty successful career in NASCAR. He managed to place first at the Daytona 500, as well as bag a SRX Championship win. Today, he mainly races part-time, but he's still worth around $50 million. He was in a pretty dramatic car crash in 2020, before walking away from the sport the next year and then eventually returning just in time for the 2023 season.
He also has some expert knowledge of how the cars he races are built since he has a bachelor's degree in vehicle structural engineering. This no doubt helps him understand his car better than most.
24. Sergio Pérez - $50m
Mexican driver Sergio Pérez currently races Formula One for Redbull. His net worth is somewhere around $50 million. During his career, he's had 35 podium finishes and 6 wins. A recent win secured his spot on the team for at least a couple of more years, although rumors that he's leaving the sport seem to creep up every so often. If he did leave, he'd be walking away with plenty of money in the bank.
Pérez reportedly has a very good relationship with the other Red Bull drivers, despite there being some recent rumors to the contrary. Pérez is the most successful Mexican Formula One driver in history.
23. Denny Hamlin - $65m
Nascar driver Danny Hamlin is a man of many interests. He and Michael Jordan, (yes, that Michael Jordan) own their own Nascar racing team, for which Hamlin is a driver. In addition, Hamlin spends a lot of his time hosting his own podcast. Hamlin has placed first 51 times throughout his career, but he's failed to outright capture a championship. Still, that hasn't affected his net worth, which sits at a smooth $65 million.
Time Magazine has called Hamlin Nascar's "most polarizing driver" for his tendency to talk a lot of trash on and off the race track. He's also one of the sports most successful.
22. Kurt Busch - $70m
If you've ever watched Nascar, then you've probably heard of the name Busch. Kurt Busch is the younger of the two brothers, and after a pretty successful career, he recently retired in 2022. He won the Nascar Championship back in 2004, and he has around 34 career wins to his name. All of his time in the sport and advertising deals earned him a net worth of around $70 million.
The younger Busch brother has also been inducted into the Nascar Hall of Fame. He retired after suffering a head injury during a crash at the Pocono Raceway in 2021.
21. Kevin Harvick - $70m
NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick is now retired from the sport, but he had a remarkably successful career and ended up retiring with a net worth of around $70 million. He claimed a Cup Series Championship, as well as two Xfinity Series Championships, before calling it quits. In addition, he has 60 wins in the sports top circuit, which isn't bad when most people fail to place first even once in their careers.
These days, Harvick is a sports commentator and podcast host, spending most of his time covering the racing world and working for FOX sports. He retired from racing in 2023.
20. Kyle Busch - $80m
Kyle Busch is Kurt Busch's younger brother and one of the best NASCAR drivers ever to step into a stock car. The younger Busch has 63 NASCAR Cup Series wins, 102 Xfinity Series wins, and 64 NASCAR Truck Series wins. His impressive record has made him the all-time NASCAR win leader when it comes to multiple series. He also has two championships and a couple of other cups from different series. He's worth around $80 million.
He may have well captured a third championship had his car not given up on him in 2022 at Bristol Motor Speedway. It was one of a string of engine problems for the team that season.
19. Danica Patrick - $80m
Danica Patrick is one of the few women in racing, but the only woman to have ever won an IndyCar race. She's since retired from the circuit and now focuses on business, with which she already had a lot of experience due to all of the advertising work she landed as a driver. Patrick is estimated to be worth around $80 million today, and that figure is likely to grow.
Like many other drivers, she got her start racing karts and picked up several championships when she was only still a kid. She started racing when she was only 10 years old.
18. David Coulthard - $80m
Like many other drivers, David Coulthard leveraged his talents and switched to journalism after a successful Formula One career. He raced from 1994 to 2008, during which time he managed to win 13 races and place on the podium 62 times. After retiring, he switched to broadcast and provided commentary on races, as well as wrote for different publications, following the sport he was once an integral part of.
Today, he's worth around $80 million and recently started a podcast that focuses on Formula One topics. His highest finish for the championship was in third, which wasn't far off from winning it all.
17. Tony Stewart - $90m
Tony Stewart is one of the NASCAR greats. He retired from racing in 2016, but he did so while competing at the top of the circuit. Stewart retired with three championships and 49 first-place finishes. He's also the only driver to ever win a championship in both NASCAR and Indycar. Stewart is worth around $90 million, and he's still very much loved by NASCAR fans. Today, he spends most of his time managing his racing team.
When he did race, he was known for his temper and for the way he handled media, which made him one of the biggest characters in the sport back in the day.
16. Alexis DeJoria - $100m
Alexis DeJoria is one of the few women on this list, and she competes in one of the lesser-represented forms of racing. Dejoria is a drag racer, which requires exact precision and timing. She's worth around $100 million, most of which she's won in races. She's one of the only female drivers in any circuit, and she's also one of the most successful and wealthy drivers on this list.
She's the daughter of a billionaire businessman, although she's said that she has always sort of been the "wild child of the family" in interviews with the media.
15. Martin Brundle - $100m
Martin Brundle now spends most of his time working as a sports commentator covering the racing world. However, he actually got his start as a driver. He raced Formula One, where he racked up nine podium finishes, but a crash and injury derailed what would have otherwise been his best season. Today, he's worth around $100 million and shows no signs of slowing down or retiring from covering the sport he loves.
Brundle has arguably made an even bigger mark on racing as a commentator, having covered the sport for so long and even reportedly having a trackside rule named after him.
14. Rubens Barrichello - $110m
Rubens Barrichello is one of the few South Americans to compete at the highest levels of Formula One. He was also pretty successful at it, scoring 11 first-place finishes and an astonishing 68 podium finishes. He retired from the circuit in 2011, but he reportedly continues to race stock cars in Brazil's Stock Car Pro Series. He's found success there as well, managing to win the championship a couple of times.
Barrichello is worth around $110 million, and since he's still racing, we wouldn't be surprised if that number were to rise as time went on. He's around 51 years old.
13. Charles Leclerc - $125m
Charles Leclerc is a 26-year-old driver from Monaco, which also happens to be home to one of the most well-known races in the world. Perhaps that's what inspired him to take up driving at the young age of 8 years old. Like many other drivers, he started out racing karts before moving up to things that had bigger engines. It's estimated that he's worth around $125 million, although that figure has been debated.
Although his Formula One career has really just started, he's had five wins and 30 podium finishes over the course of some 124 races. He currently races for Ferrari.
12. Mario Andretti - $130m
You don't have to have ever watched a Formula One race to have heard of the great Mario Andretti. He's one of the biggest names to come out of the sport. Andretti was an Italian-born American who managed to capture championships in the most prestigious circuits in the world, including Formula One. He's also won races in NASCAR, IndyCar, and the World Sportscar Championship. He is one of only three people to ever accomplish the feat.
Today, he's worth around $130 million, and he's trying to form a new Formula One racing team that would be powered by General Motors, although there has been some resistance.
11. Sebastian Vettel - $140m
No list of the top drivers in the world would be complete without Sebastian Vettel. His career in Formula One spanned from 2007 to 2022, during which he managed to clinch four championships. He was also the youngest person to ever win a Formula One Championship when he accomplished the feat at the age of 23 in 2010. He followed that up with three more top finishes in the subsequent years. He's worth around $140 million.
Since retiring from racing, the German driver has mainly focused on business ventures and is a vocal backer of a sustainable sports drink. Other than that, he's been pretty under the radar.
10. Jenson Button - $150m
Jenson Button is a British driver who mainly races in Formula One. He won the 2009 Formula One Championship and is valued at around $150 million. He also has a couple of other championships in different circuits and most recently dedicated himself to endurance racing and the World Endurance Championship. In 2010, he was awarded the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by the late queen Elizabeth II.
Like many of the other drivers on this list, racing runs in the family and Button's father was a rallycross driver. Button also has real estate investments in the U.K. and Bahrain.
9. Jimmie Johnson - $160m
The name Jimmie Johnson has been around for a long time in NASCAR. Johnson races in the sport's highest circuit, the Cup Series, and he's amassed around $160 million in wealth. He's won the championship an astonishing seven different times, with 83 race wins. Despite him still racing, he has already been inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, among many other greats who've long since retired from the sport.
Johnson initially retired from the Cup Series in 2020, but he couldn't stay away, and he returned in 2023. However, he's currently only racing part-time as of writing.
8. Valentino Rossi - $200m
Valentino Rossi is a living legend in the world of MotoGP. The Italian driver is considered by some to be the best to ever race on two wheels. He captured the championship nine times before finally bowing out of the sport in 2021, probably much to the relief of most of the other drivers on the circuit. He drove for Ducati, and he was so integral to the sport that they retired his number when he left.
Before he left MotoGP, he was estimated to be worth around $200 million. We guess it pays when you win in one of the most exhilarating and dangerous sports in the world.
7. Jeff Gordon - $200m
When you're talking about NASCAR, there aren't that many names that are as big as Jeff Gordon. He's one of the most winningest drivers in the sport's history and also one of the richest, with a net worth of around $200 million. His career spanned from 1993 to 2015. During his peak, he helped grow NASCAR's popularity beyond the South. He took home four NASCAR Cup Series Championships during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
His 93 race wins are the third-best in the history of NASCAR, and he only failed to place first at one track throughout his long career: the Kentucky Speedway.
6. Max Verstappen - $210m
Max Verstappen is one of the biggest names in Formula One today, and he has the net worth to prove it. He's worth an estimated $210 million. However, there's a good reason they're paying him all of that money. He's taken home the Formula One Championship in 2021, 2022, and 2023. That's three consecutive years in a row he's won racing's highest honor, and he doesn't show any signs of stopping.
He was also the youngest ever racer to enter Formula One when he walked onto the circuit at 17 years old. Both of his parents were drivers, and it's obviously rubbed off on their son.
5. Fernando Alonso - $240m
Fernando Alonso is a Spanish Formula One Driver who's worth around $240 million. He's now racing for Aston Martin, but he's spent time with McLaren, Ferrari, Minardi, and Renault, which are some of the biggest names in the racing world. Alonso has had a pretty long career and has been racing in Formula One for 20 seasons. He's managed to win two championships, and he's held his own against some of the biggest names in the sport.
In addition to his two championships, he has 32 Grand Prix first-place finishes and more than 100 podium finishes. He's said that the 2024 season will determine how much longer he stays in the driver's seat.
4. Kimi Räikkönen - $250m
Kimi Räikkönen is the only Formula One driver from Finland on this list, but that doesn't matter because he's one of the most successful drivers to ever do it. He's worth a whopping $250 million, which he amassed over the span of his long career. He drove from 2001 to 2021, during which he won around 21 races and placed on the podium 101 times. He also earned the nickname "the iceman."
Oh, and we almost forgot to mention that he took home the Formula One Championship in 2007, which also probably helped get his net worth to where it's at today.
3. Lewis Hamilton - $285m
You know you've made it when you've been knighted. Lewis Hamilton is the winningest driver in Formula One history, with 103 total wins. He also has an astonishing 7 championships under his belt, which is tied for the most in the history of the sport. Oh, and he has around 197 podium finishes, which for any other driver might be the highlight of their career. For his troubles, he's worth around $285 million.
In huge news for the sport, Hamilton reportedly plans to leave Mercedes and join Ferrari starting in 2025, combining both the sport's best team and arguably its best driver.
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - $300m
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is another very popular NASCAR driver. His father was a legend who captured seven championships before tragically dying in a car crash during a race. Both he and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were driving during that race. While Earnhardt Jr. hasn't recorded as many wins or championships as his father, he has remained a constant in the sport and racked up 26 wins, some of which were on the sport's biggest stage.
He's also been a fan favorite, winning the most popular driver award 15 times throughout his career. Today, he races part-time in the Xfinity Series and is one of the wealthiest drivers in the sport with a net worth of $300 million.
1. Michael Schumacher - $600m
When it comes to Formula One, arguably the only other person who could challenge Lewis Hamilton for the title of the sport's best is Michael Schumacher. He and Lewis are tied at seven for the most championships. He's second only to Lewis when it comes to race wins, but Schumacher has the greater number of fast lap times. Either way, you look at it, Schumacher is the wealthiest Formula One driver, with a net worth of around $600 million.
Schumacher retired from racing in 2006 but tragically suffered an accident in 2023 that put him in a coma for nearly a year. After waking up, he disappeared from public view.