LONDON Dec 10 (US): Fined $7m in October for breaching last year’s budget cap, Formula 1 champion Red Bull must now pay the sport’s governing body yet another tidy sum – this time as the price of success.
The 2023 Sporting Regulations require the winning designer to pay the FIA a base entry fee of $617,687 plus $7,411 for each point scored in 2022.
According to Reuters, Red Bull scored 759 points, their highest tally ever, and will have to hand around $6.24 million to compete in next year’s championship.
“I didn’t realize how much we paid the FIA for points. I got the bill that day, it was unbelievable,” team principal Christian Horner joked before the FIA awards ceremony in Bologna, Italy.
In fact, the amount is a drop in the ocean compared to Red Bull’s resources and the revenue they will receive as champions.
The team won 17 of the season’s 22 races, five with one final and two sprints, and two sprint wins out of three.
Max Verstappen, now a two-time world champion after claiming his first title in a controversial final race in 2021, has been dominant, winning a record 15 times while teammate Sergio Perez is third overall with two wins.
Compare this feeling to how it was a year ago.
“Your whole life is aimed at one goal, which is to become world champion – for me in Formula 1 – so the former is always very emotional once you achieve it,” Verstappen told reporters.
“This year was completely different. I think we were much more competitive this year, and also more fun with the way we were performing as a whole team.
“We won the drivers (championship), the constructors’ title, we got a lot of wins as a team, so I would say that’s better and more rewarding. But the first victory will always be more emotional.”
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