Lewis Hamilton faces £330,000 F1 bill as two rivals forced to stump up seven-figure sums | F1 | Sport

Lewis Hamilton will have to stump up £330,000 for his FIA super license for the 2026 F1 season after scoring 156 points during his first campaign with Ferrari. The Brit, who turns 41 this week, will pay significantly less than some of his rivals, though.

Each season, drivers must pay a flat fee of £10,250 (€11,842) to renew their FIA super license, as well as £2,070 (€2,392) for every point that they score. This means that the stronger a team performs in a given season, the more expensive their following campaign becomes.

In 2025, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen both accumulated over 420 points, meaning they face seven-figure fees in Euros ahead of the first season of the new technical regulations. McLaren’s British driver will pay £886,042 (€1,023,658) to enter the 2026 campaign.

Elsewhere in the field, rookie Kimi Antonelli will be forced to eat into his 2025 earnings to cover the £320,800 (€370,642) FIA fee, while Mercedes team-mate George Russell will pay over double the Italian’s sum.

Franco Colapinto will pay only the base £10,250 entry fee for the 2026 season after he failed to score a point last term. The Argentinian starlet replaced Jack Doohan after six races, but was unable to turn around Alpine’s fortunes as Team Enstone finished last in the Constructors’ Championship standings.

The same base-level sum will be stumped up by the three drivers joining the grid next year. Two of them are returning stars, with Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez coming back to the sport after spending the 2025 season watching on from the sidelines.

Arvid Lindblad is the other new name joining the grid. The 18-year-old Brit impressed during an eventful rookie Formula Two campaign last term, and, with Yuki Tsunoda ousted from his Red Bull seat, the teenager will make his F1 debut this year with Racing Bulls.

Looking ahead to his debut, Lindblad told F1.com: “I’ve come through the ranks pretty quickly. I’ve just been in each category one year, so every year I’m used to being thrown in the deep end. For sure, on that side, it will help [adapt to F1] because I’m used to being in this situation.

“But on the other hand, I haven’t done Formula One yet, so I don’t know what’s coming. We need to see, and I need to be open-minded and work hard, because this step will be the biggest one I’ve dealt with so far.”