Alonso top F1 earner on $42-million for 2011

Fernando Alonso banking a huge cheque this year

May 20 (PVM) Fernando Alonso has once again emerged as the top earner among Formula 1 drivers and at over $42-million a year is by far the highest paid of this current generation of drivers.

Sebastian Vettel earns farless than his main rivals

Trailing the Spaniard are Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Alonso’s team mate Felipe Massa are on $15-million per annum.

Reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel saw his salary quadruple from last year to this year but still earns a comparatively meagre $11-million which is the same amount that his Red Bull team mate Mark Webber earns.

Mercedes GP pay Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg $11-million each for their services, which is the same as they earned last year.

The Team Lotus pair of Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli are on $4-million, while Timo Glock and Nick Heidfeld are on $2.8-million with their respective teams Virgin Racing and Renault.

Rubens Barrichello took a salary chop

It has also emerged that Rubens Barrichello took a substantial pay cut from Williams, his 2010 retainer of close to $8-million was slashed to $3-million for 2011. Williams paid Nico Hulkenberg $1-million last year, but Venezuelan rookie Pastor Maldonado (who replaced Hulkenberg in the squad) is on $280,000.

Also reportedly earning less than $1-million are: Kamui Kobayashi (Suaber) on $700,000, with Vitaly Petrov (Renault) and Toro Rosso duo Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi on $570,000.

As for the rookies/returnees this season, their entry to Formula 1 did not result in a pot of gold from the teams as the highest paid among them, Narain Karthikeyan (HRT) receives $250,000 with $50,000 going to the pockets of Paul di Resta (Force India), Sergio Perez (Sauber), Vitantonio Liuzzi (HRT) and Jérôme d’Ambrosio (Virgin).

Note: The amounts earned by drivers (as detailed above) is direct annual salary from their teams and does not include endorsements and other personal income generating sources.