9th place at 12 million euros for Sauber
Felipe Nasr's ninth-place finish in front of his home crowd should translate into significant economic benefits for his Sauber team and Manor over the coming seasons.
Aside from the battle for the world championship title between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, another battle is also in full swing at the other end of the hierarchy, between Manor and Sauber.
Since the Austrian Grand Prix, Manor had taken the advantage, thanks to the 10th place achieved by Pascal Wehrlein. But everything changed this weekend in Brazil as Felipe Nasr was able to take advantage of the daunting weather conditions to secure a fine 9th place, which means two points in the Constructors’ Championship.
Sauber therefore retakes the 10th place in the championship, which will have significant financial repercussions. Indeed, the complex structure of the revenue paid by the FOM is partly linked to on-track results, according to a two-tiered scheme.
The first part, called column 1, provides for an equitable distribution of revenue among 10 teams. To benefit from this, a team must have been in the top 10 for two of the last three seasons. Haas, having made its arrival this year, cannot claim this. However, both Sauber and Manor are eligible for it for the past season since they finished in the top 10 in the last two seasons. For the 2015 season, this represents 35 million euros.
The second part, logically called column 2, is, on the other hand, only linked to the performance of the last season. Once again, it is reserved only for the top ten teams in the rankings. This time, Haas will indeed benefit, and thus Sauber joins the list of the lucky beneficiaries.
The distribution of income is not equitable this time, as Mercedes, being the world champion, will receive 19% of the total pot, while the 10th place team will receive only 4%. However, this amount is far from negligible as it still reached twelve million euros. If F1’s EBITDA remains at the same level, this is an amount Sauber can now claim, making a big difference for a team with strained finances.
The battle between the two teams promises to be even more significant next season. Indeed, if Haas maintains its performance level and re-enters the top 10, it will then be eligible for column 1. On the other hand, it will be imperative for Manor to be in the top 10. If that were not the case, it would lose access to this column 1 as well as column 2 and the reimbursement of transport costs, amounting to nearly fifty million euros that could be missing. This is a question of survival for the small British team.
With the participation of www.racingbusiness.fr
