Lionel Messi and Lewis Hamilton are often considered to be the greatest athletes of all time in their respective sports. While Hamilton’s new contract with Mercedes means that he is the highest-paid driver on the grid, Messi’s transition to the MLS saw a major pay rise for the Argentine superstar. However, Despite being the GOATs in their fields, Hamilton, under his new contract will still be earning $6,279 less than what Messi used to earn per hour even before his jackpot move to Inter Miami.
After winning the World Cup in 2022, Messi won every trophy in soccer, both domestically and at the international level. He had won everything a soccer player dreams of. Because of his immense talent, and huge popularity, Messi being one of the world’s highest-paid athletes at Paris Saint Germain wasn’t a surprise.
However, after the World Cup, he wanted to move away from the French capital in search of a new challenge. Leaving European soccer behind, he decided to move to the US, where he signed for David Beckham’s Inter Miami.
Inter Miami were held to a 0-0 draw against Nashville.
They’re still unbeaten in the 10 games since Leo Messi arrived—they lost 14 games in 2023 before he landed in Miami 🌴 pic.twitter.com/4d7DZLZUiX
— B/R Football (@brfootball) August 31, 2023
As per initial reports by NBC Sports, under his new contract, Messi would earn close to $60,000,000 per year, added to that would be his off-the-field earnings of about $65,000,000, as reported by Forbes. However, even before making this blockbuster move to Miami, Messi used to earn much more than the highest paid driver in F1, Lewis Hamilton.
Lewis Hamilton and his pay gap to Lionel Messi
After making his fans wait for what seemed like an eternity, Lewis Hamilton finally confirmed that he would be signing an extension with Mercedes until the 2025 season. As reported by Reuters, under the new contract, Hamilton would be earning a salary of around $63,000,000 per year.
Add to that the $12,000,000 that he earns from his endorsement deals, and Hamilton will be earning a total of $75,000,000 a year. Considering that, Hamilton is set to earn around $8561 per hour.
Sir Lewis Hamilton’s new contract is worth over 🤯 $12,67,42,500 ( £100M, €116M ) for 2 years. He creates a new record for being the highest paid driver ever in the history of #F1 pic.twitter.com/YVKayDa8SD
— Mercedes.F1Motorsports (@MF1motorsports) September 1, 2023
This is in stark contrast to what Messi used to earn back in 2022, even before getting a pay raise and shifting to the US. A year back when he was in Paris, Messi used to earn a total of $130,000,000 annually. This converts to an hourly income of $14,840. This makes up a total difference of $6,279 which clearly shows the gap in pay between the two sports.
A win-win for Mercedes and Hamilton
Despite this parity in pay as compared to the legends of other sports, Hamilton would be extremely happy with his new contract. He is already 38, and by the end of his new contract he would be 40.
On top of that, having such a massive paycheck despite of the contract being short means that Mercedes are serious about continuing with Hamilton. However, Toto Wolff has still taken minimal precaution by keeping the contract short and keeping the intricacies of exit clauses out of it. Overall, it is a win win situation for both the parties and Mercedes would want to be back at the top with Hamilton.
