How do top Formula 1 contracts compare to Juan Soto's new deal?

Juan Soto is set to suit up for a fourth team in four MLB Opening Days this coming spring after signing a massive 15-year, $765 million contract with the New York Mets that could be worth up to $805 million.

Soto, a World Series champion with the Washington Nationals from 2019, was traded to the San Diego Padres during the 2022 season and to the New York Yankees after the 2023 season.

He spent just one year in the Bronx and brought an end to a months-long free agency saga which, believe it or not, once evoked feelings that a $600 million price tag would be incredibly high.

How does the 26-year-old's contract compare to the top deals in Formula 1?

For starters, four-time reigning world champion Max Verstappen is currently the highest paid driver in Formula 1. He signed a five-year extension worth $275 million ahead of the 2023 season, and that deal went into effect at the beginning of 2024. The average annual value of $55 million is $4 million higher than Soto's, but for a far shorter period of time.

But in 2025, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, whose current deal with Mercedes is valued at around $40 million per year, is set to retake the throne as the highest paid driver in the sport with a deal that, based on total value, trailed only three other deals in the professional sports world before Soto signed his contract.

According to PlanetF1, Hamilton was offered $50 million to join Ferrari in 2023 (for 2024), but he turned it down. The team upped their offer in a big way for next season, and he is now set to earn $87 million in 2025, with an option to earn the same amount in 2026.

It is worth mentioning that a quarter of that funding is set to go toward Hamilton's Mission 44, which was not said to be a part of Ferrari's original 2023 offer.

Additionally, chairman John Elkann has agreed to create an investment fund for Formula 1's all-time leading race winner with Ferrari's parent company Exor. That deal is worth $272 million and includes an ambassador role for Hamilton, both during and after his Formula 1 career.

All things considered, Hamilton's Ferrari deal is valued at $446 million.

Prior to Soto's contract, Hamilton's deal checked in behind only Patrick Mahomes' active 10-year, $450 million NFL contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, Lionel Messi's four-year, $674 million Barcelona contract from 2017, and Shohei Ohtani's active 10-year, $700 million MLB contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, which includes $680 million in deferrals from 2034 to 2043.

Verstappen could have an opportunity to overtake Hamilton in this category once again in the very near future, as he is said to have been offered $150 million annually to join Mercedes from 2026.

Aston Martin team owner Lawrence Stroll is also believed to be in pursuit of the 27-year-old Dutchman, and while his pockets aren't as deep as Steve Cohen's, it would probably take a nine-figure annual sum to get him to leave Red Bull before his current contract expires. Stroll is currently paying two-time world champion Fernando Alonso $18 million annually.