Ferrari to receive 148 million euros more than Haas from FOM

For many years, the issue of revenue distribution in F1 has been a recurring topic. Obviously, as teams are bound by confidentiality agreements with the FOM, it’s not easy to gather information about each other’s revenues.

However, the less advantaged among them may have an interest in leaking information to the press in order to highlight their disadvantage in the public eye. It should also be remembered that Sauber and Sahara Force India have officially lodged complaints with the European Commission. The figures gathered by Dieter Rencken for Autosport should thus bolster their case with the European authorities, as highlighted by the fact that Vijay Mallya, co-owner of Sahara Force India, is echoing them.

Thus, one can realize that once again Ferrari tops the list of revenues to be paid by the FOM for the 2016 season, even though the team had dropped from second to third place in the Constructors’ standings. The reason is that the majority of its revenues paid by F1 come from specific agreements it managed to negotiate, notably 62 million euros from a single payment related to its status as the oldest team on the grid.

This amount may cause some irritation in the paddock as it corresponds to the total sum of payments from the FOM to Sauber and Haas. The American team is particularly poorly funded as it must make do with 17 million euros. This is because it can only benefit from the variable share related to its 2016 performance (8th in the Constructors’ Championship). However, it is not yet entitled to the so-called column 1 payments, which provide for an equitable distribution among all teams finishing in the top 10 during two of the previous three seasons.

This column 1 explains why it was so important for Sauber to finish ahead of Manor, which was achieved during the penultimate race of the season in Brazil. Conversely, if Manor had managed to retain that position, there would have been a strong chance that the small British team would still be on the grid, as it would have precisely allowed them to benefit from these additional revenues.

But Ferrari is not the only team to benefit from specific agreements. For example, Mercedes has benefitted since last year from a preferential treatment of 32 million euros for achieving its goal of winning the Constructors’ title at least twice consecutively. It is equivalent to the agreement granted to Red Bull for being the first to sign the Concorde Agreements in 2010.

This specific bonus is in addition to the bonuses granted to teams that have won the most races over the past four seasons. It thus seems that McLaren continues to enjoy privileges even though the Woking team’s last victory dates back to Interlagos 2012. While the team’s revenue is significantly increasing, having moved from 9th to 6th place, it could follow a downward trend next year if the serious shortcomings noted since the beginning of the season are not addressed.

With the participation of www.racingbusiness.fr