Otmar Szafnauer shares how much Esteban Ocon earned in his first year in F1.
Otmar Szafnauer recently shared some interesting details about how much Esteban Ocon earned during his first year in Formula One. These days, F1 is more popular than ever, and today’s drivers are some of the highest-paid in the sport’s history.
Max Verstappen leads the way with a reported $76 million salary, followed closely by Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris. Further down, Carlos Sainz makes $13 million a year, while Ocon earns about half that — around $7 million — after signing a multi-year deal to race with Haas alongside Ollie Bearman in 2025. That’s a big jump compared to what he made over ten years ago!
Ocon started in F1 back in 2016 with Manor Racing, joining midway through the season. At just 19 years old, he raced the last nine events that year but didn’t score points. Still, he finished every race he entered. Because of that, when he moved to Force India in 2017, he was one of the lowest-paid drivers.
Otmar Szafnauer, who was the team boss then, remembers, “We paid Esteban nothing for the first year. He didn’t bring any money, so he got nothing. He even came to me saying, ‘I feel like you’re not paying me enough.’ I told him we just had no money, and he understood.”
When asked how much that was exactly, Otmar said it was under a million dollars. Compare that to today’s lowest-paid drivers, like Arvid Lindblad, Ollie Bearman, and Gabriel Bortoleto, who still earn about $2 million a year.
Right now, Ocon is having a tough season with Haas, scoring just three points compared to his teammate Bearman’s 18, and he’s been out-qualified more times than he’s out-qualified Bearman. Because of this, there’s been talk about him possibly leaving the team when his contract ends.
But Ocon stays positive and focused. After the Austrian Grand Prix, he said, “I feel confident about everything. People will always talk, but when you look deeper, you understand why I don’t have many points this year. The team and I know the real reasons. We’re doing the right work; now, it just needs to pay off.”
Next up for Esteban and Haas is the British Grand Prix at Silverstone this weekend — let’s see how he does!