Constructors' Championship: here's how much Ferrari's second place cost
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The 2024 Constructors’ Championship was decided in the final race of the year, with McLaren and Ferrari battling until the checkered flag. The British team arrived at Yas Marina with a 21-point lead over their rivals, and despite Oscar Piastri being taken out by Max Verstappen at the first corner, the second and third places secured by the Ferrari drivers were not enough to overtake the “papayas,” who triumphed thanks to Lando Norris's victory.
This was the 67th Constructors’ Championship. Established in 1958, eight years after the category’s inception, it was introduced to recognize not only drivers but also the manufacturers and designers of the cars.
The team with the most Constructors’ Championships in history is Ferrari, followed by McLaren, Williams, and Mercedes. Red Bull, on the other hand, is only in sixth place. Below is the official ranking.
For drivers, excelling in their individual championship is paramount, but every team aspires to win the Constructors’ Championship, not only for the advantage it provides the following year but also because the title comes with a higher monetary reward. While the exact distribution of prize money in F1 is confidential, a reliable estimate can be made based on publicly available information.
According to the Concorde Agreement, the contract governing the championship, the prize pool for teams equals 50% of F1’s commercial rights revenue. However, teams do not always receive the full 50%, as beyond a certain revenue threshold, Formula 1 management’s share percentage increases. For example, in 2022, F1 generated $2.57 billion in revenue, with a prize pool of $1.157 billion, roughly 45%.
Additionally, payments are not distributed equally: Ferrari, for instance, receives an extra payment of about 5% due to its historical significance, having participated in every season since F1's debut in 1950. There are also bonuses for past successes, such as championship wins, with estimates suggesting bonus payments account for about 25% of the pool, leaving the remaining sum for other teams.
Based on these estimates and last year's data, the 14-point difference that cost Ferrari the championship deprived the Maranello team of an additional $9 million to use next season. However, looking at the positive side of finishing second overall, this ranking not only determines the prize money but also the wind tunnel time allocated to each team. The closer a team is to the top of the standings, the less time they have available for car development. Therefore, Ferrari will have more wind tunnel time than Andrea Stella‘s team, allowing them to prepare for 2025 with even greater determination.
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