The latest SportsPro assessment of the world’s most marketable athletes shows a dramatic reshuffle for Formula 1’s most decorated driver. Using data gathered between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026, the British star fell from the summit of the list to a 22nd-place finish, with a score of 66.63 out of a possible 100.
In the same ranking, Ferrari teammate Charles leclerc climbed to ninth place with a higher score of 71.12, pushing Hamilton out of the top ten for the first time since the list began. The shift reflects a blend of brand equity, momentum and commercial trajectory – the three pillars that SportsPro and its data partner NorthStar Solutions Group use to calculate each athlete’s rating.
Key figures across the 2026 top-50
The overall leader is Belarusian tennis star Aryna Sabalenka, who sits at the very top of the chart. She is followed by freestyle skier Eileen Gu, basketball powerhouse Giannis Antetokounmpo, football phenom Erling Haaland and tennis ace Carlos Alcaraz. In the motorsport section, the only other driver inside the top 50 is Max Verstappen, who surged from 81st last year to 48th this year.
Further down the list, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri occupies the 56th slot, while his teammate and 2025 champion Lando Norris slid to 78th after a strong showing the previous season. New world champion Kimi Antonelli barely makes the top 150 at 126th, a 48-place drop from his 78th position in 2025.
Outside Formula 1, MotoGP legend Marc Márquez appears at 86th, and Alpine driver Pierre Gasly is listed at 91st. The rankings also note that 32 % of the top 150 athletes are American, while British and Indian representatives each account for 7.3 % of the cohort.
Why Hamilton fell behind Leclerc
According to the methodology disclosed by NorthStar, the brand equity component measures the strength and trust of an athlete’s personal brand. Leclerc outscored Hamilton here, benefitting from a polished public image, a compelling personal narrative and a roster of premium partners that keep renewing their collaborations.
The momentum factor gauges how quickly an athlete’s value is rising. While Hamilton recorded a higher momentum number than the Monegasque driver, the weight assigned to this metric is lower than that of brand equity, limiting its impact on the final ranking.
The third pillar, commercial trajectory, evaluates future growth potential. Because Hamilton is 41 years old – tied for the oldest athlete on the list with icons such as Cristiano Ronaldo and LeBron James – the algorithm assumes a shorter runway for brand expansion. Leclerc, at 29, enjoys a higher trajectory score that nudges his overall rating upward.
NorthStar’s president, Chris Collins, summed up the situation: “Leclerc has one of the strongest established brands of any athlete in the world. 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.” He added that Hamilton’s dip “isn’t about his brand; it’s about time. At 41, there is naturally less career runway ahead, and a forward-looking assessment reflects that reality.”
Context behind the numbers
The six-month evaluation window captures a turbulent period for Hamilton. It coincides with his first full season driving for Ferrari, during which he failed to reach a podium finish. Although he later found form and spent much of the early races in second place in the drivers’ championship, the early setbacks weighed heavily on his marketability metrics.
Conversely, Leclerc benefited from a season of consistency and high-visibility wins, reinforcing his brand equity and widening his audience reach. Verstappen’s rise to 48th illustrates how on-track success can translate quickly into commercial appeal, even for drivers already entrenched near the top of the sport.
Overall, the 2026 list underscores the growing influence of athletes from diverse disciplines. Football contributes 33 entries – the largest share – while motorsport accounts for eight spots, representing 5.3 % of the total and placing the sport sixth behind tennis and cricket but ahead of golf and boxing.
