F1 teams' MULTI-MILLION dollar prize money estimates

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F1 teams' MULTI-MILLION dollar prize money estimates

The estimated numbers show a sizeable gap between the teams heading into 2024

Tyler Rowlinson

Sunday 3 December 2023 14:57

The prize money expected to be earned from the 2023 season by F1 teams have been revealed, according to reported estimates.

The exact amount of money F1 teams receive at the end of a season is kept confidential within the Concorde Agreements that govern the sport, but using the information available to the public, including the teams and owners Liberty Media’s accounts, it is possible to estimate how the prize pot is split.

There were battles across the grid in the constructors’ championship at the final race of the year in Abu Dhabi, with Mercedes just pipping Ferrari to second place by five points.

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McLaren took fourth from Aston Martin and Williams held on to seventh in a tight battle at the bottom with AlphaTauri, Alfa Romeo and Haas.

Each of these is worth millions for the teams going into the 2024 season, but there are several complexities as to how the money is distributed amongst them.

Numbers show huge gap in F1

According to the Concorde Agreements, the team prize pot is made up of 50 percent of the overall commercial rights profit that the series generates.

The teams' prize pot is made up of 50 percent of the commercial rights profit

However, it is understood that after a certain point of revenue, FOM’s (the main operating company of the Formula One Group that controls the broadcasting, organisation and promotional rights of F1) percentage shifts so it keeps more than half from that figure onwards, according to Autosport.

It means that the teams do not always get 50 percent of the money. In 2022 for example, F1 generated $2.57 billion in revenue and the teams received $1.157 billion, equalling roughly 45 percent of the total income.

These payments are not shared equally amongst the teams, however. Ferrari receives an extra payment for competing in every season in F1, which is worth around five per cent of the pot.

Teams that have won a constructors’ championship are also said to receive a bonus, with a bigger payment going to teams with more than one title.

It is estimated that these bonus payments make up 25 per cent of the pot, with the rest being distributed by what position the teams finished in the standings.

With F1’s income increasing by up to 10 percent, the prize money pot after the bonuses works out to around $1 billion.

Red Bull will receive an estimated $140 million after their success this season

Haas will receive just $60 million after finishing last place in 2023

Red Bull will receive an estimated $140 million after their comprehensive victory, while Mercedes will receive $131 million and Ferrari will get nine million dollars less for finishing third. McLaren and Aston Martin are also estimated to receive prize money in the hundreds of millions, with $113 million and $104 million respectively.

The huge gap between the teams is made apparent with the estimated prize money for Haas, who after finishing last in 2023, will go into next season with $60 million.

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