There is no doubt that the 2021 Formula One campaign ended in the most dramatic – and controversial – fashion.

With the F1 2021 championship going right down to the wire, the final race of the F1 calendar was to be decided by a head-to-head battle between the two leading drivers of the 2021 F1 campaign – Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

The world watched on in disbelief as twenty-four-year-old Belgian-Dutch star, Verstappen, snatched the Formula One (F1) Championship right from the hands of Great Britain’s multi-winning F1 champion, Hamilton – on the very last lap of the season’s finale in Abu-Dhabi. And, with luck very much having been on the side of Verstappen, why not try your own luck in the world of virtual online casinos – find out more at caziwoo fi.  

The win meant that the young Verstappen secured his first ever F1 Championship – becoming the first Dutch driver ever to do so. As well as writing his name into the F1 history books, Verstappen also picked up a huge paycheck courtesy of his success.

But, how much exactly did the F1 winner receive from his dramatic championship win?

Let’s take a closer look at the prize money for the 2021 F1 championship season.

First of all, there is no doubt that F1 drivers are amongst some of the highest paid sportsmen on the planet – with salaries made up of millions and millions of dollars. And, if you consider that all the drivers also have multiple sponsorship deals with some of the world’s biggest companies, the money they earn throughout the F1 calendar is mind-blowing.  

In 2021, F1 recorded mammoth revenue figures of US$668 – which is a considerable twelve percent increase on the revenue recorded in the same period, during 2020. However, such an increase is somewhat unsurprising as the majority of the 2020 F1 campaign took place behind closed doors – with no fans in attendance at the races.

What will also come as little surprise is the fact that Verstappen picked up an astronomical paycheck – thanks to his F1 2021 heroics – with the Red Bull racer pocketing a win-bonus of US$16 million. And, if you add this to his already eye-watering salary (US$26.5 million), Verstappen is already on the road to becoming one of the sport’s wealthiest stars.

The young racer, the son of former F1 driver, Jos Verstappen, has recently celebrated his maiden F1 World Championship win by revealing a new ‘gold’ helmet for the 2022 campaign. 

Reports have suggested that if Hamilton was to have crossed the finishing line before Verstappen at the season finale – and become the F1 World Champion for the eighth time, then the British racer would have also pocketed a healthy winning bonus.

It is also believed that his team – at Mercedes – would also have benefitted greatly had Hamilton secured the championship win, with reports suggesting that a bonus of $23.7 million would have been shared out amongst the staff.

This would have seen each member of the racing company pick up around US$13,500 each.

On top of individual prize-winning amounts that were pocketed – both of the teams behind Verstappen (Red Bull) and Hamilton (Mercedes) also found themselves handsomely rewarded as a result of their performance.

With the 2021 F1 season generating in excess of $1.4 billion in profits, both Red Bull and Mercedes financially benefitted from this astonishing amount of money. Red Bull – as the winning F1 constructors’ team – were reported to have been rewarded close to US$68 million.

To Summarise

As you can see, the sums of money in – and around – F1 are some of the biggest in the world of sport as a whole – with the winning drivers, and teams, benefitting greatly on a financial level.

These are sums of money that many of us can only dream of getting our hands on, as it takes years and years of dedication – and hard work- for those involved in Formula One to reach the pinnacle heights of becoming the very best in the sport.

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