Still, Liberty Media, three years into its custody of F1’s commercial rights, must have done something right, for all major metrics are pointing in the right direction, albeit some marginally so. Indeed, during 2019 Ferrari received $90m in performance-linked revenues, and an attendance bonus of $115m.Īdvert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free ![]() Until 2021 (at least) the sport will – in all likelihood – continue to be dominated by the ‘Big Three’, who collectively share a quarter of the sport’s prize fund in return for simply turning up on Sundays. Of the trio, only the latter improved its championship position. However Racing Point, rebuilding after plunging into bankruptcy as Force India last year, recorded the largest increase at 30%, followed by Haas (25%) and restructured McLaren (14%). Significantly, team budgets crept up by an average of 10% despite the number of races remaining stable at 21. Simply put: were F1 not an effective marketing tool, no companies would be onboard and there would be no F1. Is Gene Haas happy with what he’s spending on F1?These numbers, more than any others, highlight both the costs of F1 and disparity across the grid, yet they also underscore F1’s global appeal, for ultimately whatever the different spends by teams and/or sponsors, such sums are approved by hard-headed businesses on the basis of tangible returns on investment. Tail-ender Williams had a similar spend despite having a full manufacturing facility – neatly demonstrating the vastly different business models adopted by teams. Add in engine departments, and these numbers swell by up to 50%.Įqually, Red Bull blew almost a billion dollars on fielding its two F1 teams – with ‘free’ Honda engines for both outfits on top of that – while at the other end of the spectrum ‘have-not’ Haas, which operates to an out-sourcing model, spent $150m to end ninth. The biggest ‘haves’ – Ferrari and Mercedes – spent over $400 million each (without engine costs) in their quests for championship glory in 2019, in the process each employing 1,000 heads to field two cars for two hours on 21 Sundays. Then there are folk who migrate to other team, and take useful knowledge with them.į1’s front-runners out-spend the restThe imposition of regulatory budget caps from 2021 onwards will, of course, make it easier to track team finances, but there are still expected to be fairly substantial variances between the spends of the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’, while the list of exclusions – which includes driver retainers – and the ability to ‘fudge’ marketing and executive salaries is such that up to 50% of total spend could remain hidden. Fortunately, though, there are contacts willing to divulge – either on- or off-record – their teams’ financials for reasons best known to them. Then, Ferrari does not split its finances – either within the group or within Gestione Sportiva – as does Mercedes’ F1 team, which operates separate engine and chassis operations. The financial records of non-UK domiciled operations – Ferrari and Toro Rosso (both Italy), Sauber (Switzerland) and Haas (international) – are not publicly accessible, and thus best guesstimates have been applied where teams have been uncooperative for whatever reasons. Although these returns provide a solid basis, they need to be purified, for not all operations are dedicated solely to F1. The first component is easy to obtain, being available once the championship classification is declared ‘final’ the second requires voluminous research – whether into financial records or via interviews – plus good old-fashioned sleuthing.Ĭompanies House returns are available for all UK-based teams, and thus the financials of Mercedes, Red Bull Racing, McLaren, Renault, Racing Point and Williams are all (eventually) in the public domain – albeit up to nine months in arrears. Thus, the true measure of any team’s effectiveness is not its eventual championship classification, but the ratio between the number of points scored during a season and the particular team’s overall budget, effectively its Bang for Buck. The nature of this sporting business means that for every constructors champion there are a number of also-rans for whom the challenge lies in achieving the best possible performance over a full season within the constraints of their respective budgets.
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