Max Verstappen had a dominant season with Red Bull in 2022. With 15 wins in a year, he even smashed Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher’s most wins in a season.
So much dominance he had that even when four races were remaining in the season, he had sealed the championship. The second-best driver, Charles Leclerc, had only three wins that season and remained at a deficit of 146 points.
However, with great dominance comes great pay. To participate in the 2023 season, Verstappen had to pay approximately $1 million. To redeem a superlicense every year, each driver has to pay $11,145 as a basic fee.
On top of that, with every point scored would add the charge of $2,250. With 454 points scored last year, Verstappen will have to pay slightly over $1 million to defend his world championship title.
Max Verstappen thinks the pay is absurd
When asked about the compensation he ought to give to the FIA for participating in F1 next season, the Dutchman called it absurd. When seeing the figure of around that much, the $50 million earning driver feels that it’s ridiculous that he’s being demanded so much monetarily.
“I think the sum is absurd,” Verstappen is quoted by the German outlet Motorsport-Total. “I don’t think it’s right that we have to pay so much. That’s not the case in other sports, either. And there are more and more races.”
This year, there would be an added race in the season. Therefore, for every driver, at least in the top 10, it would be an added financial burden for all of them.
Battling Ferrari once again
Last year, Ferrari got toyed with Red Bull’s exploits. By the end of September, it looked obvious which team would be the champion in 2022. Therefore, Ferrari had to concentrate more on securing the P2 than closing the gap against the table leaders.
Moreover, they also started on their 2023 project. And as per recent projections, the new car is approximately one second faster than its predecessor F1-75.
However, there is little whisper about the 2023 challenge Red Bull. Therefore, no idea how good could be their new car. But considering they got the new aerodynamics regulation all right, they are believably going into the season as title favorites.
With Ferrari and Red Bull yet to clash this year, it remains to be seen who’ll come out victorious. On the other hand, Mercedes could also emerge as the title contenders yet again.
