Lewis Hamilton tipped to lose race to become F1’s first ‘billion-dollar’ driver

Former Jordan boss Mark Gallagher has claimed that Max Verstappen is on course to become the sport’s first driver to reach a billion-dollar valuation ahead of Lewis Hamilton, so long as he doesn’t retire from F1 early.

The two-time world champion is currently part-way through a long-term contract with Red Bull that will see him rake in over £50 million per year until the end of the 2028 season, ensuring that he earns just as much as Hamilton for his on-track exploits. 

However, at 26 years of age, the iconic Dutchman still has a long way to go and plenty of time to wrack up his earnings total by racing in F1. With Hamilton still going strong at 38 and Fernando Alonso already racing into his 40s, Verstappen has plenty of time to continue his career. 

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Speaking about the prospect, Gallagher said: “Regarding Max being potentially the first billion-dollar Formula 1 driver in terms of his career earnings, the reason I say that is because you really don’t need to sit in front of a calculator for very long to work out that.

“If he’s already been in Formula 1 since the age of 17, even if you put in a sort of relatively modest trajectory in terms of his salary, he’s already well into nine figures – hundreds of millions of dollars of income during his career to date.

“He’s got a very long way to go, potentially. This is one of the interesting things about Max saying he may not stick around that long, because he certainly doesn’t need to stick around in order to make serious money. He’s already made serious money, and he will make serious money over the balance of his Red Bull contract until 2028.

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“But the fact is that, if he decides, ‘okay, I’ll do a [Lewis] Hamilton or I’ll do an [Fernando] Alonso, and I’ll stay until I’m 38 or 40’, I mean, all bets are off. His career earnings will just continue to rocket.”

The only thing that could stop Verstappen from making it to his late thirties or early forties in F1 is his own desire to remain in the series. The 26-year-old is already a multiple-time world champion and could explore life in other disciplines should Red Bull lose their superiority.

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