Formula One’s estimated 2017 revenue was around $1.38 billion, and a lot of that money goes to the teams that actually make the races happen, but not all of it. Here’s a handy breakdown showing how much, in video format.
Things we learned: Mercedes, the 2016 Constructor’s Champion, got $61 million based on that position in the standings, while Ferrari, which finished third that season, got $41 million based on its position in the standings. That’s far from everything though.
Take, for example, the $36 million that every team that’s been in the championship for at least two seasons gets, no matter what. In 2017, all of the teams got that money except Haas, which only started racing in 2016. Haas, in fact, got the least amount of money from F1 in total, bringing in just $19 million in 2017. Compare that to Ferrari, which took in nearly $180 million.
Most interesting is a revenue stream called LST, which stands for long-standing team and got Ferrari $68 million in 2017. And only Ferrari, since they are the one team that’s never left F1, having been with the championship since its inception in 1950. With its new owner Liberty Media, this payment is somewhat under threat, though it’s funny to consider that, for a moment, the most successful team in F1 history, gets a huge financial boost just by virtue of being Ferrari. The boost is such that every year it is almost certain they will get more money from F1 than the actual winner, both a recognition of their past and cementing their grip on being a contender every year in the future.