Lewis Hamilton loses 'most marketable athlete' crown and overtaken by F1 rival
Lewis Hamilton has slipped down sport's 'most marketable athlete' ranking.
Lewis Hamilton has lost his crown as being the most marketable athlete, and is no longer the highest-placed Formula 1 driver, according to SportsPro’s annual list.
Seven-time F1 world champion Hamilton was listed at the top of SportsPro’s 50 Most Marketable Athletes last year, but he has fallen to 22nd place in the 2026 edition of the rankings.
Hamilton’s total marketability score out of 100 has dropped to 66.63 compared to the 96.03 he was given in 2025. It puts him in the same bracket as footballers Neymar and Vinicius Junior.
As well as falling down the list, Hamilton has been overtaken by Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc, who is the highest-placed F1 driver in ninth, with a total score of 71.12.
Four-time world champion Max Verstappen is 48th with a score of 60.45, ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in 55th and 56th respectively.
2025 world champion Lando Norris has also suffered a sharp fall, dropping from 41st to 78th. F1’s newest world champion Andrea Kimi Antonelli is only 126th, behind Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in 91st.
Seven-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez, who is the verge of securing an eighth premier-class world title, is ranked in 86th place.
Speaking to BlackBook Motorsport, NorthStar Solutions Group (which collates the data) president Chris Collins said of Leclerc: "He ranks second of all 247 athletes we assessed on brand equity, built on how he presents himself, a compelling personal story and premium partners who keep choosing to work with him.
"As one of the most-followed drivers on the grid, it’s little surprise to see his audience scores performing well, but it also emphasises that his followers actively interact with his profile. He also benefits from a high audience breadth score, an expected outcome for all Formula 1 drivers thanks to their global profile.”
On Hamilton, he added: "What keeps him below the top 10 isn’t his brand, it’s time. At 41, there is naturally less career runway ahead, and a forward-looking assessment should read a great career in its later chapters exactly that way.”
At the very top of the list is tennis star Aryna Sabalenka. She shits ahead of freestyle skier Eileen Gu, basketball player Giannis Antetokounmpo, football’s Erling Haaland and tennis player Carlos Alcaraz.
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