A person is worth whatever another entity is willing to pay.

If Mercedes didn't think Hamilton is worth it, they wouldn't have extended him. and he is well worth whatever Mercedes is paying him, he is a proven entity, can drag a car from nowhere to somewhere. When he won his first title, the Ferraris were faster than his McLaren. Even if we discount other teams and just look within his own team, he also has a much much higher quality of teammates that he beat, Alonso, Rosberg, Button, that's 3 F1 champions right there. He is the most experienced driver on the grid after Alonso, his car developmental inputs are second to none. 

If Aston didn't think Alonso is worth it, they wouldn't have hire Alonso.

If Mclaren didn't think Norris is worth it, he wouldn't be there anymore.

Ferrari also think Leclerc and Sainz are worth the investment too. And Sainz slayed the dragon today to qualify on pole. 

Red Bull didn't think Albon was good enough, but Williams did, and Albon has been performing, so well worth signing.

Same with every driver on the grid, well except junior. Or Yuki, who is there because of Honda. Zhou also because of the Chinese money.

Every professional athlete are paid accounting to what they have accomplished. There is no exception. 

Red Bull thinks Verstappen is worth 55mil a year after he won his first, hence that long contract. He won another after and will win one more this year are just bonus for Red Bull. had they tried to sign him this year after he won 3 in a row, Verstappen might have asked for 80mil or 100mil a year. Basically Verstappen got short changed, 

But he got lucky with the Red Bull being the fastest last couple years. Imagine in an alternate universe where the Red Bull has the pace of a Alfa Romeo last couple years, and if his contract came up this year, he wouldn't have been paid so much cause, well, he was nowhere to be found and had only won 1 WDC. 

Only time will tell if Verstappen is like Vettel or Hamilton. Right now he is along the line of Vettel, dominating when the car is the fastest one. Not a bad follow though, as Vettel won 4 in a row with the hyper fast Red Bull. 

 

 


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