Here’s How Much It Costs To Run A Formula 1 Team

I am sure many of us love to watch the Formula 1 racing. A typical Formula 1 car can reach speeds up to 360 kph. The participating teams need to comply with strict rules and regulations to compete. The history of F1 goes almost a century back with extensive design and regulation changes over the course of time. Current regulations require a 1.6 liter V6 Hybrid Turbocharged engine with a maximum 15,000 RPM all while weighing a a minimum of 145 kg. You can download the detailed F1 regulations from FIA’s website (PDF)

F1 racing is a serious business and need a lot of budgets and sponsorship to run. It can be called as one of the most expensive sporting events. Ever wonder how much it cost to run a Formula 1 team? Well a recent article by Raconteur, a British publication, will blow your mind. According to a research “A typical mid-ranking team can expect to spend around $235.4 million a season”.  This number can go above 300 and can touch even 350 million depending on the teams.

The article presented some nice infographics for understanding. Basically the F1 team budget per season is divided in four sections with cost/ expenses in USD as follows. Operations cost around $53.64 million, R&D around $61 million, salaries stands at $62.58 million while production of car cost $58.11 million. The publication further summarize how expensive is the car itself. The single F1 car cost around $8.94 million. The carbon fiber monocoque costs $1.49 million while the transmission alone costs $1.11 million. The heart of the car which is 1.6 L V6 Turbocharged Hybrid cost $5.23 million alone. If you want to advertise on the car then it’s not cheap either.  The sponsorship you see on cars itself cost millions of dollars as well. The advertising logos on rear wing, on the side as well as the air scoop above drivers head are sold for an average $25.3 million each spot per season. I am enclosing some graphics from the same publication for a quick understanding. (For ease of calculation and conversion; 1 British Pound = 152.12 Pakistani Rupee at the time of writing this article)

Source: Raconteur