Red Bull star driver Max Verstappen has to pay €1,217,900 – equating to a whopping R24,859,000 at current exchange rates – for his super licence in 2024 in order to compete in the Formula 1 (F1) World Championship once again.
Before every F1 season, all teams and drivers must pay an entry fee to the governing body of the sport, the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA).
The size of the payment is calculated using the championship standings. Teams and drivers pay a standard sum, plus an amount per point scored in the last championship.
For the upcoming season, drivers must pay a base fee of €10,400 (R211,500) plus €2,100 (R42,700) per point scored in 2023 to retain their super licence.
Given that Verstappen scored a record of 575 points, the Dutchman, or more likely Red Bull, will have to fork out more cash than any driver that ever came before him for his 2024 super licence.
The Milton Keynes outfit will, undoubtedly, do this with a smile.
Verstappen not only clinched his third consecutive driver’s championship and Red Bull’s seventh constructor trophy in 2023, but he smashed a number of other records, too, including but not limited to:
- Most wins in a season – 19 out of 22 (previously 15)
- Most podiums in a season – 21 (previously 18)
- Most consecutive wins in a season – 10 (previously 9)
- Most wins from pole position – 12 (previously 9)
- Most points in a season – 575 (previously 454)
- Most hat-tricks (pole, win, fastest lap) – 6 (previously 5)
- Biggest championship-winning margin – 290 points (previously 155)
- Most laps led in a season – 1,003 (previously 739)
- Highest % of laps led in a season – 75.7% (previously 71.5%)
- Most sprint race wins in a season – 4 out of 6 (previously 3)
In fact, teammate Sergio Perez could have gone on holiday for the entirety of 2023 and left his race car in the garage back in England, and Red Bull would have still won both the driver and constructor divisions thanks to the supremacy of one Max Verstappen.
2024 Super Licence fees
According to RacingNews365, the F1 super licence fees for 2024 per driver are as follows:
| Driver | Points scored in 2023 | Fee (Euro) | Fee (Rand) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Max Verstappen | 575 | €1,217,900 | R24,859,000 |
| Sergio Perez | 285 | €608,900 | R12,428,500 |
| Lewis Hamilton | 234 | €501,800 | R10,242,400 |
| Fernando Alonso | 206 | €443,000 | R9,042,300 |
| Charles Leclerc | 206 | €443,000 | R9,042,300 |
| Lando Norris | 205 | €440,900 | R8,999,400 |
| Carlos Sainz | 200 | €430,400 | R8,785,100 |
| George Russell | 175 | €377,900 | R7,713,500 |
| Oscar Piastri | 97 | €214,100 | R4,370,100 |
| Lance Stroll | 74 | €165,800 | R3,384,200 |
| Pierre Gasly | 62 | €140,600 | R2,869,800 |
| Esteban Ocon | 58 | €132,200 | R2,698,400 |
| Alex Albon | 27 | €67,100 | R1,369,600 |
| Yuki Tsunoda | 17 | €46,100 | R940,966 |
| Valtteri Bottas | 10 | €31,400 | R640,900 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | 9 | €29,300 | R598,100 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 6 | €23,000 | R469,500 |
| Zhou Guanyu | 6 | €23,000 | R469,500 |
| Kevin Magnussen | 3 | €16,700 | R340,900 |
| Logan Sargeant | 1 | €12,500 | R255,100 |
| Total | 2,456 | €4,924,700 | R100,520,100 |
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