Mercedes AMG could enter 38,706 dirt races for the same entry fee costs of just 21 Formula One races
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series drivers will pay a $125 entry fee to enter a race that pays $20,000 to the winner.
Meanwhile, overseas they’re taking a drastically different approach. Expense in F1 is nothing new. Teams will spend money in all areas of development to chase thousandths of a second in performance.
But, beyond the expense of developing a one-of-two racing machine, staffing the team and shipping the equipment around the world there’s also a fee to enter the season. The fee is set on a per season basis.
The rates are not standard across all teams. Each teams pays a different rate to enter the championship based on the previous year’s performance.
First, there’s a base rate of $546,133. Then, every point earned in the constructors championship from the season prior adds $6553 to the total for the series champions. For the rest of the field, they pay $5459 per point earned.
So, when Mercedes waxes the field for the umpteenth year in a row, it’s costly. Mercedes will pay a fuck-ton-rate of $4,838,348 for their eligibility in the 2019 racing season.
Note: At that rate, they could enter 38,706 national series dirt races.
2019 F1 Entry Fees
Team | Points | Entry Fee
Mercedes: 655 points $4,838,348
Ferrari: 571 points $3,663,222
Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer: 419 points $2,833,454
Renault: 122 points $1,212,131
Haas-Ferrari: 93 points $1,053,820
McLaren-Renault: 62 points $884,591
Racing Point Force India-Mercedes: 52 points $830,001
Sauber-Ferrari: 48 points $808,165
Scuderia Toro Rosso- Honda: 33 points $726,280
Williams-Mercedes: 7 points $584,346
F1 Payouts
The teams are paid based on the constructors points as well. A portion of the worldwide TV money goes toward the championship.
Teams are not paid based on race wins. Championship points are the only thing that brings a payout for the teams. Points are only awarded to 1st-10th. Anything outside of that, no points are awarded.
With a worldwide audience, the payouts are massive. In 2017, those payouts were $919 million which was a drop of $50 million from 2016. That prize money is divided among the teams based on their performance in the standings.