Norris salary moves him into Formula 1’s top bracket

The length of Lando Norris’s new McLaren contract is official. The value is not.

McLaren has confirmed that its World Champion will remain at Woking until at least the end of 2030, with options which could extend the relationship further. As usual in Formula 1, the announcement contained no financial details.

A PA report carried by The Independent valued the four-year extension at as much as $163 million, equivalent to approximately $41 million a season. That would place Norris among the three best-paid drivers in Formula 1, but still some distance behind Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

Norris himself described the tension between what he believes his present performance is worth and what the records of Hamilton and Verstappen can command.

“I feel I should earn as much as them, but [the contract] is certainly not close to the level of Lewis or Max, which, in a way, it shouldn’t be because I’ve not achieved as much as them in their careers,” he said.

“But in another way, I believe it should be, because I believe I can fight against them whenever I need to, and I can do a better job whenever I need to. But I’m working on it. Hopefully I can then try and match it one day.”

His point was that his present competitive level belongs in the same conversation, not that his career record already matches theirs.

The problem with any Formula 1 salary table is deciding what is being counted. A driver may receive a guaranteed salary, payments for points, victories and championships, personal sponsorship income and other commercial earnings. Reports frequently combine some of these figures while excluding others.

Forbes produced one of the more detailed estimates for 2025. It calculated that Verstappen received a $65 million salary and $11 million in bonuses, giving him total on-track earnings of $76 million.

Hamilton was estimated at $70 million in salary and only $500,000 in bonuses during his first Ferrari season. His agreement therefore provided considerably more guaranteed money than Verstappen’s, even though the Red Bull driver finished ahead when bonuses were included.

Norris was third on the Forbes list at $57.5 million. The interesting detail was the composition: an estimated salary of only $18 million accompanied by $39.5 million in performance payments following seven victories and his World Championship.

Oscar Piastri was estimated at $10 million plus $27.5 million in bonuses. Charles Leclerc received an estimated $30 million without a performance bonus, while Fernando Alonso’s total was placed at $26.5 million and George Russell’s at $26 million.

Those estimates show why Norris required a new contract. His previous guaranteed salary was below those attributed to Leclerc and Alonso, despite Norris having become World Champion and McLaren’s most successful current asset.

They also explain why the reported $41 million annual figure may not represent the maximum value of the new agreement. If McLaren has retained substantial payments for victories and championships, a successful Norris season could take his total earnings well beyond the headline salary.

Other European reports have produced higher numbers. AS said Norris’s revised pay would move closer to the amounts received by Hamilton and Verstappen, while Gazzetta dello Sport estimated his 2026 package at about $47 million before the extension was announced. A separate figure of approximately $70 million has also circulated, although there is not enough evidence to describe that as a confirmed guaranteed salary.

The most sensible conclusion is that Norris now has a basic contract worth approximately $41 million a year, with a considerably higher potential value when bonuses are included. That would leave Hamilton and Verstappen ahead on guaranteed income while making Norris capable of approaching them in a championship-winning season.

Driver remuneration is excluded from Formula 1’s cost cap, so McLaren does not have to choose between paying Norris and developing the car. The calculation is instead whether retaining a proven World Champion is worth more than risking his departure to a rival.

Norris has won 13 Grands Prix, delivered McLaren’s first Drivers’ Championship since 2008 and attracted interest from other leading teams. He is also only 26 and could remain with McLaren throughout the most productive part of his career.

The precise number will remain known only to Norris, his advisers and a small group inside McLaren. The direction of travel is less mysterious. Norris has moved from being a well-paid contender with lucrative bonuses to a driver receiving a World Champion’s guaranteed salary.