Formula 1: Who are the highest paid drivers for the 2019 season?
By Asher Fair
2. Sebastian Vettel – $45,000,000
Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel is Formula 1’s second highest paid driver for the 2019 season with a salary of $45,000,000.
Like Rich Energy Haas teammates Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean, Racing Point’s Sergio Perez, Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Valtteri Bottas and Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen, Vettel is one of the eight drivers who are set to return to the teams for which they drove in the 2018 season in the 2019 season.
Vettel has competed in Formula 1 since the 2007 season when he drove for Scuderia Toro Rosso, the Red Bull Racing junior team, in seven of the season’s 17 races and he drove for BMW Sauber in another. He began his career as a full-time driver in the sport in the 2008 season, and he has not missed a race since.
The 31-year-old German drove for Toro Rosso in the 2008 season, before he was promoted to Red Bull Racing ahead of the 2009 season, which ended up being the first of his six seasons driving for the team, as he did not leave until after the conclusion of the 2014 season.
Vettel began driving for Ferrari in the 2015 season, and he has driven for the team ever since. His current contract with the team expires at the end of the 2020 season.
In his 219 career Formula 1 starts, Vettel has earned 52 victories, a total that ranks third on the all-time Formula 1 wins list behind the career win totals of Michael Schumacher (91) and Lewis Hamilton (73). He has also earned 111 podium finishes, a total that ranks third on the all-time Formula 1 podium finishes list behind the career podium finish totals of Schumacher (155) and Hamilton (134).
In addition, Vettel has earned 55 pole positions, a total that ranks fourth on the all-time Formula 1 pole positions list behind the career pole position totals of Hamilton (83), Schumacher (68) and Ayrton Senna (65).
In his 11 seasons competing in Formula 1 on a full-time basis, Vettel has only finished outside of the top five in the driver standings once, as he finished in eighth place in his rookie season driving for Toro Rosso.
Vettel has won four championships, a total that is tied for fourth place on the all-time Formula 1 titles list with that of Alain Prost and behind the career championship totals of Schumacher (seven), Hamilton (five) and Juan Manuel Fangio (five). Vettel’s career average starting position is 5.0, and his career average finishing position is 5.9.