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Forbes tallied an eye-popping $363 million paid to Formula 1’s top ten drivers this year, a figure that should give any hardworking American pause when most families are tightening belts. That kind of cash concentrated at the top underlines a truth conservatives have long argued: free markets create outsized winners, and sport is no exception to capitalism’s extremes.
At the head of the pack sits Max Verstappen with an estimated $76 million in compensation, while Lewis Hamilton pulled down roughly $70.5 million even in what he called a difficult season. These numbers aren’t charity — they’re market signals — but they also expose how global entertainment funnels unprecedented amounts of money to a tiny elite.
Lando Norris, the season’s hard-fought champion, earned an estimated $57.5 million after salary and bonuses, a reminder that performance still pays when talent meets opportunity. Conservatives should cheer the meritocratic side of that story: a young driver and his team delivered under pressure and were rewarded — proof that ambition and results matter.
At the same time, Forbes notes the top ten haul was up 15 percent from 2024 and a stunning 72 percent since 2021, reflecting how commercialization and global TV rights have turbocharged paydays. You can celebrate market success and still ask whether a system that creates multi-million dollar athletes while so many face economic strain is one that serves the long-term health of our communities.
The list of big earners — from Verstappen and Hamilton to McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and rookies pulling seven-figure paychecks — reads like a championship of corporate sponsorship and brand power as much as driving skill. It’s not wrong for the marketplace to reward winners, but journalists and elites should stop pretending giant contracts are purely virtuous; public conversation about tax fairness, opportunity, and responsibility matters too.
Ultimately, this is a story conservatives can both admire and critique: admire the grit, skill, and competitive spirit that produce world-class results, and critique the outsized concentration of wealth that follows. If American workers look at headlines like this and feel left behind, politicians and leaders of both parties should listen — champion free enterprise, yes, but also defend policies that keep opportunity real for every hard-working family.
