Nico Hülkenberg Salary 2026 in Audi's First Season
Nico Hülkenberg earns a base salary of $7m at Audi in 2026, unchanged from last season when the team still raced as Sauber. The big jump came a year earlier. Haas had paid him $2m a season, so his move for 2025 brought a 250% rise.
Spread across 23 races, the $7m works out at about $304k a Grand Prix. It still trails the $10m Renault paid him in 2019, his career high, and is expected to stay flat in 2027.
Reports €50k ($57k) per point, citing Österreich, which sets our bonus scenario. Its lower €5m ($5.7m) base conflicts with the $7m we use.
Base Salary Earned in 2026$5.72m of $7m
82% of the way through 2026
Since this page loaded
BASE SALARY EARNED
$0Prorated Earnings Estimate
POTENTIAL INCOME
$0Prorated Earnings Estimate
CAREER EARNINGS
$58,260,000Prorated Earnings Estimate
These tickers illustrate calculated averages based on annual figures and are not actual payments.
How the Hülkenberg Points Bonus Works
Hülkenberg’s Audi deal is reported to pay €50k ($57k) for every point he scores. A repeat of his 51 points from 2025, shown in his season-by-season stats, would add $2.9m and lift his potential income to $9.9m. His 13 points through the United States Grand Prix would be worth about $741k under the same clause.
Breaking Down How Much Nico Hülkenberg Gets Paid
PER MONTH
$583k
PER WEEK
$135k
PER DAY
$19k
PER HOUR
$799
Hülkenberg’s $7m base comes to roughly $583k a month, or $19k for every day of the year. Add the $2.9m points scenario and those figures climb to $825k and $27k, with each of the 23 race weekends worth about $430k. They’re illustrative averages only, since Audi doesn’t pay him in neat daily or monthly slices.
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Names Raoul Spanger as Hülkenberg's manager in a January 2026 guide to driver representation.
Hülkenberg Is Signed With Audi Through 2027
Audi announced Hülkenberg on April 26, 2024 as the first driver for its works team, almost two years before the team raced under the Audi name. The contract began in 2025 and runs for three seasons to the end of 2027, covering the first two years of the new engine rules.
At $7m a year, those three seasons are worth $21m in base salary before any points bonus. Audi confirmed in September that he and Gabriel Bortoleto will stay together for 2027, the last year his current deal covers. He turns 40 during that season, with 267 Grand Prix starts already behind him.
Hülkenberg’s F1 pay has risen and fallen several times since his $928k rookie year at Williams in 2010. Each stint below shows what one team paid him, season by season, and the points he scored in return. Those earnings sit behind his estimated $22.5m net worth.
2025-2026
Sauber and Audi
$7m
Audi's First Signing
▾
POTENTIAL INCOME
$7m-9.9m
AGE
37-38
TEAM
Sauber and Audi
The Audi deal lifted his base from $2m to $7m, and he answered with 51 points and a first career podium in 2025. Under his per-point bonus, a repeat would make 2026 worth $9.9m.
SEASON
AGE
BASE SALARY
POTENTIAL INCOME
POINTS
POS
2026
38
$7m
$9.9m
13
14
2025
37
$7m
$7m
51
11
2023-2024
Haas
$2m
Back in a Full-Time Seat
▾
POTENTIAL INCOME
$2m
AGE
35-36
TEAM
Haas
Haas brought him back full time on $2m a season after three years of cameo drives. Nine points in 2023 grew to 41 in 2024, and Audi had already signed him for 2025 by April of that year.
SEASON
AGE
BASE SALARY
POTENTIAL INCOME
POINTS
POS
2024
36
$2m
$2m
41
11
2023
35
$2m
$2m
9
16
2020-2022
Racing Point and Aston Martin
$91k-118k
Called Up at Short Notice
▾
POTENTIAL INCOME
$91k-118k
AGE
32-34
TEAM
Racing Point and Aston Martin
Without a regular seat, his race pay dropped to an estimated $118k for two starts with Racing Point in 2020 and $91k for two with Aston Martin in 2022. The 2020 cameos alone produced 10 points.
SEASON
AGE
BASE SALARY
POTENTIAL INCOME
POINTS
POS
2022
34
$91k
$91k
0
22
2021
33
$0
$0
0
2020
32
$118k
$118k
10
15
2017-2019
Renault
$5.5m-10m
Top Pay at Renault
▾
POTENTIAL INCOME
$5.5m-10m
AGE
29-31
TEAM
Renault
Renault paid $9.04m in his first year, an estimated $5.5m in 2018 and $10m in 2019, the richest base of his career. Seventh in the 2018 standings was his best finish, yet Renault replaced him with Esteban Ocon for 2020.
SEASON
AGE
BASE SALARY
POTENTIAL INCOME
POINTS
POS
2019
31
$10m
$10m
37
14
2018
30
$5.5m
$5.5m
69
7
2017
29
$9.04m
$9.04m
43
10
2014-2016
Force India
$4.43m-5.31m
Le Mans Winner on the Side
▾
POTENTIAL INCOME
$4.43m-5.31m
AGE
26-28
TEAM
Force India
Back at Force India, he earned $5.31m in 2014, then $4.44m and $4.43m, and his 96 points that first year are still his best season total. In 2015 he also won the Le Mans 24 Hours with Porsche.
SEASON
AGE
BASE SALARY
POTENTIAL INCOME
POINTS
POS
2016
28
$4.43m
$4.43m
72
9
2015
27
$4.44m
$4.44m
58
10
2014
26
$5.31m
$5.31m
96
9
2013
Sauber
$1.33m
A Standout Year at Sauber
▾
POTENTIAL INCOME
$1.33m
AGE
25
TEAM
Sauber
Sauber paid about $1.33m, roughly double his previous salary, and he delivered 51 points. Fourth place in Korea, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, was the highlight before he returned to Force India.
SEASON
AGE
BASE SALARY
POTENTIAL INCOME
POINTS
POS
2013
25
$1.33m
$1.33m
51
10
2012
Force India
$642k
Leading at Interlagos
▾
POTENTIAL INCOME
$642k
AGE
24
TEAM
Force India
His first full Force India season paid about $642k, less than Williams had paid him as a rookie. He scored 63 points and led the Brazilian Grand Prix before a clash with Lewis Hamilton ended his shot at victory.
SEASON
AGE
BASE SALARY
POTENTIAL INCOME
POINTS
POS
2012
24
$642k
$642k
63
11
2011
Force India (reserve)
$0
Friday Running Only
▾
POTENTIAL INCOME
$0
AGE
23
TEAM
Force India (reserve)
Williams let him go after one season, so he spent 2011 as Force India’s reserve driver. He drew no race salary that year, but the Friday practice outings put him in line for a race seat in 2012.
SEASON
AGE
BASE SALARY
POTENTIAL INCOME
POINTS
POS
2011
23
$0
$0
0
2010
Williams
$928k
Pole Position as a Rookie
▾
POTENTIAL INCOME
$928k
AGE
22
TEAM
Williams
Williams paid him about $928k for his debut season. He scored 22 points and took a surprise pole in changing conditions at Interlagos, still the only pole of his career, but it wasn’t enough to keep the seat.
A pre-season survey reporting his $7m base salary for his first year back at Sauber.
Why Audi Made Hülkenberg Its First Signing
Audi wanted a proven points scorer to launch its works team, and Hülkenberg’s record made him the natural first signing at $7m.
Experience in bulk. Only a handful of drivers on the 2026 grid have more than his 267 Grand Prix starts, which matters for a team building its own car and engine.
Back among the points. His 51 points for Sauber in 2025 were his best season total since 2018.
Pay tied to results. The reported €50k ($57k) per point means part of his income only arrives when he scores, so Audi’s outlay follows his form.
A yardstick for Bortoleto. Audi can measure its young driver against a known quantity, and Hülkenberg leads their 2026 points battle 13 to 10.
Below his peak. At $7m he costs Audi less than the $10m Renault paid him in 2019.
Hülkenberg vs Bortoleto on Pay and Points
Hülkenberg’s $7m base is $5m more than Gabriel Bortoleto’s $2m, and the gap stretches to $6.9m once both bonus scenarios are counted, at $9.9m against $3m. The points table is much closer in 2026, and eighth place in Singapore put Hülkenberg ahead of Bortoleto, 13 to 10.
Audi pays Nico Hülkenberg a base salary of $7m in 2026, which is about $304k per race. He earned the same in 2025 after leaving Haas, where his salary was $2m. A reported points bonus could add $2.9m in a strong year and take his potential income to $9.9m.
Nico Hülkenberg makes about $583k a month from his $7m Audi base salary in 2026, or roughly $19k a day. If his reported points bonus reached the $2.9m scenario, his monthly average would climb to $825k.
Audi doesn’t pay him in neat monthly slices, so these are illustrative averages.
In 2026, Nico Hülkenberg has scored 13 points up to and including the United States Grand Prix on October 25. He scored 51 for Sauber in 2025 and has 635 across his F1 career. At the reported €50k ($57k) per point, his 2026 tally would be worth about $741k, while 51 points would be worth $2.9m.
Nico Hülkenberg’s Audi contract runs until the end of 2027. It was announced on April 26, 2024 and started in 2025, so it covers three seasons. Audi confirmed in September 2026 that he’ll partner Gabriel Bortoleto again in 2027. At $7m a year, the deal is worth about $21m in base salary.
The better-paid Audi driver is Nico Hülkenberg, whose $7m base salary is three and a half times Gabriel Bortoleto’s $2m. With bonus scenarios included, the gap is $9.9m against $3m. Hülkenberg also leads their 2026 points battle, 13 to 10 after the United States Grand Prix.
Haas
Force India
Williams
