Let's see what were the earnings of F1 drivers for 2012.
In the last year list of the drivers of Formula 1 incomes from their teams, published in the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, Fernando Alonso featured for another year in 1st place, with the world champion Sebastian Vettel to be only in the 4th position along with his team mate Mark Webber.

The salary given to the Spanish driver by Ferrari was € 30 million, without of course included in these any earnings Alonso has from his various sponsorships. Fernando Alonso added to his bank account almost twice much money than his former team mate in McLaren, Lewis Hamilton, who in his last year in the British team received the amount of € 16 million, this year Lewis Hamilton is racing for Mercedes, for annual earnings of just over € 20 million.

The remuneration of Jenson Button for 2012 was in line with Hamilton's bringing them in third place of the relevant list. The Red Bull team also followed common wage policy for both drivers, with Vettel and Webber to receive € 10 million each. Nico Rosberg of Mercedes and Ferrari's Felipe Massa will "declare" also with € 10 million each, while Michael Schumacher receivedat his last Formula 1 season, € 8 million!
Kimi Raikkonen returned last year to the Formula 1 world, for € 5 million, much less than the € 16 million it received previously from Ferrari. With his great races in 2012, it is easy to predict that in time he 'll sign a much better contract. Besides, there are already candidates who offers Kimi much more money than the Lotus.
Formula 1 pilots earnings of :
1. Fernando Alonso Ferrari ---> € 30 million 2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes ---> €16 million = Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes ---> € 16 million 4. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing ---> € 10 million = Mark Webber Red Bull Racing --->€ 10 million = Felipe Massa Ferrari --->€ 10 million = Nico Rosberg Mercedes --->€ 10 million 8. Michael Schumacher Mercedes --->€ 8 million 9. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus F1 Team ---> € 5 million 10. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham F1 Team --->€ 4 million 11. Timo Glock Marussia F1 Team --->€ 3 million 12. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber --->€ 1 million = Romain Grosjean Lotus F1 Team --->€ 1 million 14. Nico Hulkenberg Force India F1 ---> € 500.000 = Sergio Perez Sauber---> € 500.000 = Vitaly Petrov Caterham F1 Team---> € 500.000 = Pedro de la Rosa HRT ---> € 500.000 18. Pastor Maldonado Williams ---> € 400.000 = Daniel Ricciardo Scuderia Toro Rosso --->€ 400.000 = Jean-Eric Vergne Scuderia Toro Rosso ---> € 400.000 21. Bruno Senna Williams --->€ 250.000 = Narain Karthikeyan HRT---> € 250.000 23. Paul di Resta Force India F1 --->€ 200.000 24. Charles Pic Marussia --->€ 150.000[Source:
Drive.gr]