The old joke no longer applies, and we explain why: In 2022, Formula 1 will no longer be burning billions, but earning good money
For many years, a joke circulated in the paddock. It went, “What’s the fastest way to burn a fortune?” Answer: “Buy a Formula One team!” There was always a great deal of truth in that. But things are different in 2022.
The premier class of motorsport has never been on such a sound financial footing as it is at present. With the introduction of the budget cap, costs have become calculable. At the same time, revenues are bubbling up like never before.
Volkswagen Group boss Herbert Diess was recently asked how he could justify Porsche and Audi entering Formula One, a sport in which car manufacturers have historically always invested a lot of money and received only vague marketing returns.
His answer came as a surprise to many who are not intensively involved with Formula 1: “With Formula 1 we get more money from Stuttgart and Ingolstadt than without Formula 1,” he is convinced.
How the tide has turned is one of the central topics of the Formula 1 podcast ‘Starting Grid’ before the Grand Prix in Miami. Editor-in-chief Christian Nimmervoll explains in detail in a segment of the podcast why the old joke is no longer admissible and all those who are now already involved in Formula 1 are, on the contrary, earning millions and billions from it.
No wonder the existing teams don’t want to allow an eleventh and twelfth team in Formula One. Because then they would have to divide the bubbling sources of money by twelve instead of ten …