Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has just experienced two of his worst seasons in the sport, failing to win a single race in either campaign.
Not to say that his talent has suddenly dipped after the excruciating nature of his defeat in 2021, but the Silver Arrows have just been so far off the pace compared to the likes of Red Bull that Hamilton has failed to challenge the superiority of Max Verstappen.
If things weren’t bad enough for him on the track, Hamilton has now been denied a salary component by the Silver Arrows, making him the only driver in the top-10 best paid racers in F1 not to receive a bonus for their efforts in 2023.
In terms of his salary, Hamilton is the second-highest paid driver on the circuit and although he didn’t win a single race, he still finished the year in third place, behind the Red Bull duo of Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
Hamilton’s best result in 2023 came in Texas, where he was in contention to win the race, finishing P2. However, a technical infringement meant that he was disqualified.
Hamilton awarded no bonus, but Mercedes rewards George Russell
A report in Forbes has now revealed the drivers’ salary packages for the recently-concluded season.
Hamilton was paid around £43.4m ($55m) for his efforts in 2023.
Mercedes chose not to pay Hamilton any bonus even though nine other drivers on the grid received one, including the likes of Pierre Gasly who also got a multi-million-pound payout.
What may cause a bit of friction in the Mercedes paddock is the fact that the Silver Arrows still decided to hand out a bonus to Hamilton’s teammate George Russell, who got £3.9m ($5m) for his efforts.
While Verstappen’s base salary is lower than Hamilton’s at £35.5m ($45m), the Dutchman was so prolific on the track that he was awarded an additional £19.7m ($25m) bonus payout from Red Bull.
Verstappen was in such lethal form that he broke the record for most wins in a season, triumphing in 19 of the 22 Grand Prix that took place. This included a staggering 17 of the last 18 races.
Even though Sergio Perez’ title surge was cut short after hope in the early part of the season, the Mexican driver still raked in an impressive £12.6m ($16m) on top of his base salary of £7.9m ($10m) for finishing the season behind Verstappen.
Meanwhile, Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso and McLaren’s Lando Norris were rewarded with bonuses in the region of £7.9m ($10m) after finishing P4 and P6 in the standings respectively.
Carlos Sainz, the only other driver outside Red Bull to win a race all season, was given £4.7m ($6m).
Apart from this, Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri claimed £3.9m ($5m) as a bonus, while Alpine star Pierre Gasly was handed an additional £2.4m ($3m) bonus to supplement his £3.9m salary.