F1 drivers have to pay Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) a fee ahead of the 2024 season to be eligible to compete in Formula One.
To be able to race in Formula One, every single driver has to have a "super license." In order to have the Super License, drivers have to first acquire a certain number of points in lower series like Formula 2 and Formula 3 and be of a certain age - 18 years old.
However, that is not everything. This license has to be renewed every year, and every single year, drivers have to pay a fee, which is composed of a fixed base amount plus variable cost.
The fixed base amount for the 2024 season will be €10,400 ($11,420), and the variable cost depends on the number of acquired points in the past F1 season. For every single point, each driver must pay an additional €2,100 ($2,306).
In cases of drivers like Max Verstappen, who broke a record for most acquired points by a driver in a single season of F1, the variable cost adds up to a whooping €1,217,900 ($1,337,382).
For the three-time World Champion, this is probably the only downside of collecting more points than second and third-best drivers Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton altogether.
On the other side of the spectrum, Logan Sargeant (who, as of the time of writing the article, still doesn't have a contract for 2024) would only have to pay €12,500 ($13,726).
As the amount paid is basically based on the points acquired, you can see that this table mirrors the Drivers' Championship standings.
The only drivers who pay the same amount are Fernando Alonso with Charles Leclerc and Daniel Ricciardo with Zhou Guanyu, as they ended the season with exact same amount of points.
NOTE: The exchange rates used in the article and the chart are accurate as of 16:00 GMT on Monday, 27th November.
Driver | Points scored in 2023 | Fee in Euros | Fee in Dollars |
Max Verstappen | 575 | €1,217,900 | $1,337,382 |
Sergio Perez | 285 | €608,900 | $668,636 |
Lewis Hamilton | 234 | €501,800 | $551,029 |
Fernando Alonso | 206 | €443,000 | $486,460 |
Charles Leclerc | 206 | €443,000 | $486,460 |
Lando Norris | 205 | €440,900 | $484,154 |
Carlos Sainz | 200 | €430,400 | $472,624 |
George Russell | 175 | €377,900 | $414,973 |
Oscar Piastri | 97 | €214,100 | $235,104 |
Lance Stroll | 74 | €165,800 | $182,065 |
Pierre Gasly | 62 | €140,600 | $154,393 |
Esteban Ocon | 58 | €132,200 | $145,169 |
Alex Albon | 27 | €67,100 | $73,682 |
Yuki Tsunoda | 17 | €46,100 | $50,622 |
Valtteri Bottas | 10 | €31,400 | $34,480 |
Nico Hulkenberg | 9 | €29,300 | $32,174 |
Daniel Ricciardo | 6 | €23,000 | $25,256 |
Zhou Guanyu | 6 | €23,000 | $25,256 |
Kevin Magnussen | 3 | €16,700 | $18,338 |
Logan Sargeant | 1 | €12,500 | $13,726 |
TOTAL | €4,924,700 | $5,407,837 |