Massive F1 entry fee hikeposted in F102 | 11 | 2012
THE EXCLUSIVE WORLD of Formula One is about to get a lot more expensive for the teams. Today they were notified that entry to next year's world championship will cost dramatically more. How much more? For world champions Red Bull, the price hike leaps from $397,899 to $4.4 million.
The FIA has finally revised its sporting regulations to confirm the scale of the increase. But the decision follows weeks of behind-the-scenes discussions as teams sought clarification on why the costs were going up.
The sport's governing body has amended the original plan to include a system whereby the champion outfit pays a premium price: hence Red Bull's $4.4m bill.
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The payment structure — in which the governing body states there will be two levels of fees for teams — is detailed in Appendix 7 of the newly-published 2012 Sporting Regulations.
The constructors' champions will have to pay a base 500,000 US Dollars plus $6000 per point gained in the standings.
Every other team that wants to enter will have to pay the basic $500,000 plus $5000 per point.
On the basis of last year's world championship standings, it means teams will see their entry fee costs rise from last year's standard rate $397,899 to:
Red Bull (650 points) $4.4m;
McLaren (497 points) $2.985m;
Ferrari (375 points) $2.375m;
Mercedes (165 points) $1.325m;
Lotus (73 points) $865,000
Force India (69 points) $845,000
Sauber (44 points) $720,000
Toro Rosso (41 points) $705,000
Williams (5 points) $525,000
Caterham (0 points) $500,000
HRT (0 points) $500,000
Marussia (0 points) $500,000
Teams must pay the entry fee by November 30.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner admitted his team has little choice but to accept the rise in entry fees.
"It is a difficult situation," Horner explained in Abu Dhabi today after seeing his driver, world championship leader Sebastian Vettel, top the timesheets in the second Free Practice.
"Jean (Todt, FIA president) has explained very clearly why there has to be an increase in fees.
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"With the scheme they have introduced, it penalises the higher scoring teams more, but we can understand some of his reasoning behind that - so we accept the FIA's position."
Despite the global economic crisis, the decision to increase entry fees comes as the FIA bids to increase the revenue it gets from the sport. It's understood its baseline target figure is $40m per season.
Entry fees are set to accept for at least $16.3m. A further $24m is set to come from in the form of a payment from commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone as part of a Concorde Agreement deal.
F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Yas Marina — Free Practice II:
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m41.751 33 laps;
2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m41.919s +0.168 33;
3. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m42.412s +0.661 35;
4. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m42.466s +0.715 21;
5. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m42.500s +0.749 33;
6. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m42.532s +0.781 27;
7. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m42.587s +0.836 30;
8. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m42.823s +1.072 32;
9. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m42.998s +1.247 36;
10. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m43.106s +1.355 35;
11. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m43.191s +1.440 33;
12. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m43.200s +1.449 35;
13. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m43.255s +1.504 33;
14. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m43.267s +1.516 31;
15. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m43.578s +1.827 33;
16. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m43.689s +1.938 31;
17. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m44.260s +2.509 26;
18. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m45.073s +3.322 18;
19. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m45.245s +3.494 35;
20. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m45.782s +4.031 32;
21. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m46.589s +4.838 34;
22. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m46.671s +4.920 30;
23. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m46.707s +4.956 25;.
24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m47.406s +5.655 34.
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Jim McGill
Photo: Copyright Getty Images