The 2023 F1 season was known for the dominance of Max Verstappen and Red Bull, as the Dutchman clinched a third drivers’ world title after winning a record-breaking 19 of 22 grands prix.
He and Red Bull won both championships with six grands prix to spare, yet the rest of the positions were closely fought as many were still up for grabs in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix season finale. This meant teams had millions of dollars at stake in Abu Dhabi with their finishing position potentially having a big impact for 2024 and beyond.
Mercedes and Ferrari were tight in battle for second, Aston Martin was trying to regain fourth from McLaren, while Williams, AlphaTauri, Alfa Romeo and Haas all squabbled over the bottom four positions.
Alpine was the only other constructor to have secured their finishing position in advance of Abu Dhabi, as the sixth-placed team were 153 points behind Aston Martin in fifth but 92 ahead of seventh-placed Williams before the final weekend.
Even though F1’s exact prize money split is secret, it is possible to gain a good estimate of how much each position is worth using information in the public domain. As per the Concorde Agreement, the contract which governs the series, the team prize pot makes up 50% of F1’s commercial rights profit.
But teams do not always get 50% as after a certain point of revenue, it is understood Formula One Management’s percentage share increases. So in 2022, for example, the prize pot was $1.157 billion after F1 generated revenues of $2.57 billion, which equates to roughly 45%.
Those payments are also not shared equally. Ferrari receive an extra payment, believed to be 5% of the prize pot, for its historical significance as the Italian outfit has competed in every F1 season since 1950.
Other teams receive more money for past successes like winning the championship. So, it is estimated that bonus payments account for around 25% leaving the rest for 10 teams to split.
F1’s predicted earnings are expected to rise by up to 10% which means team payments will total around $1.25-1.3 billion, so the following numbers are estimated based on a $1 billion prize pot.
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB19
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