Max Verstappen achieved the record of most race wins by a driver in a season by winning 15 GPs in the 2022 season. He also claimed his second consecutive title in the last season as his points tally totalled 454 points, the highest by any driver to date.
The record-breaking season by the Red Bull driver was indeed a masterclass performance. But as a result, Verstappen will have to foot a hefty bill to race in F1 in 2023.
Max Verstappen broke the record for the most points scored in a single season with 454 points in 2022 👊
Here’s how it compares to his other campaigns 👀#F1 @Max33Verstappen pic.twitter.com/cAW1XVKKBZ
— Formula 1 (@F1) January 5, 2023
To defend his title in 2023, the Dutchman will have to pay close to $1.03 Million to the FIA as a Superlicense fee. And Verstappen feels this is unfair for drivers to pay a hefty amount directly to the authority’s pockets.
Max Verstappen complains against “absurd” racing fee
Verstappen will be forced to pay the most expensive fee to defend his crown after his record-breaking tally. This Superlicense fee is mandatory for all drivers who wish to continue racing in the sport.
According to the FIA, every driver who wishes to compete in an F1 season must pay an annual Super License fee. This includes a base fee of $11,169, and an additional $2,255 for every point scored in the previous year’s championship.
This means Verstappen will have to pay close to $1.03 Million to the FIA and this doesn’t sound fair to him. As Verstappen commented, “I think the amount is absurd.”
In 2022, Max Verstappen fell 10 points short of beating Sebastian Vettel’s record for biggest ever winning margin in a title fight 👀
Max scored 82.88% of all available points this year compared to 83.57% for Seb in ’13 & 84.7% for Michael Schumacher in ’02 📊#F1 #Autosport pic.twitter.com/qtZV2SlG4s
— Autosport (@autosport) November 26, 2022
He added that it is not the case in other sports and labelled it unfair since there are more races being added to the upcoming season. This is true as the 2023 season will include 1 new Grand Prix and 3 additional Sprint races.
The new races will fetch another 210 points for drivers. This means the FIA will additionally earn another $473,550 from super license points alone.
Red Bull to pay Verstappen’s bill
Fortunately, Verstappen will not need to fork out $1.03 Million from his own pocket. According to Helmut Marko, Red Bull will pay the driver’s costs as a part of his contract.
However Red Bull themselves will be paying a hefty amount too. All F1 teams must pay a $617,687 base fee along with $6,174 per point.
For 2023 F1 superlicense fees driver pays 10400€ base fee plus 2100€ for each point scored in previous season, as @Racingnews365C reports
This makes Max Verstappen fee reaching almost 1mln €!#f1 #Formula1 pic.twitter.com/VzZa8YPdJ8
— F1_charts (@F1_charts) December 21, 2022
This means Red Bull themselves will have to pay an additional $6,242,636 to the FIA along with Verstappen’s Superlicense fee. Along with their $7 Million fine for breaching FIA’s cost cap last year means Red Bull will be paying close to $15 Million to the FIA alone.
Verstappen’s mammoth $1 Million charge is almost $300,000 more than Charles Leclerc who finished P2. Meanwhile teammate Sergio Perez will be paying $698,995, but there is no clarification on whether Red Bull will pay his bill too.
The lowest costs will be borne by debutants Oscar Piastri, Logan Sargeant, and returnee Nico Hulkenberg. The trio will just pay an $11,169 base fee ahead of the 2023 season.
Also Read: Former Ferrari Driver Ranks Max Verstappen at Par With Three F1 GOATS
