Christian Horner knows that winning a world championship in F1 comes at a cost, but the Red Bull chief was nevertheless stunned by the amount his team must pay the FIA for the privilege of racing in F1 in 2023.
In dominant form, Red Bull wrapped up both the Constructors' and the Drivers' championships this year, with Max Verstappen delivering a record 15 wins over the course of the season while teammate Sergio Perez added two wins to his track record.
"It's very, very special," Horner said at last Friday's FIA prize giving gala in Bologna.
"We broke all our own records, and these two guys have been truly amazing this year, particularly Max has had an outstanding season.
"Behind the scenes, [we had] the biggest regulation changes in 40 years, and the whole team in Milton Keynes rose to that challenge magnificently."
However, in addition to its 17 race wins, Red Bull racked up a total of 759 points.
Per the sport's regulations, Red Bull will pay to the FIA - like every other outfit - a basic 2023 entry fee of $617,687 and $7,411 per point scored. All other teams will be required to pay $6,174 per point.
The Milton Keynes squad was therefore invoiced a hefty $6,242,636 by F1's governing body that represents its entry fee for 2023, an amount by the way that is exempt from F1's cost cap.
"I didn’t realise how much we had to pay the FIA for the points – I got the bill the other day and it was incredible!" joked Horner, flanked by FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem at the FIA Gala.
At the other end of the spectrum, because it only scored 8 points in 2022, Williams Racing will only need to disburse $667,079 to race in 2023.
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