2010 F1 team budgets and payment times

[John S]

In this article mainly about payment times of the F1 teams to their suppliers, which may only be of passing interest to most, is a reasearched estimate from, Formula Money the industry's monitor, of all the teams budgets this year (see table at bottom). What is significent to me is that McLaren, Red Bull & Genii/Renualt are all about equal pegging whilst the two top spenders are the true manufacturers teams. I guess it shows that it ain't just the bucks you need.

Pitpass.com, Tuesday 20th April.

After being knocked off the top spot of F1's points standings at last weekend's Chinese Grand Prix, the decline in Ferrari's on track performance has been plain for all to see. However, what has only come to light today, courtesy of a report in the Telegraph by Pitpass' business editor Chris Sylt, is that the Italian team's financial performance has also been in reverse.

The report is based on research by business intelligence firm Dun & Bradstreet which ranks F1's teams by the length of time it took them to settle their bills over the period from December until the beginning of April this year. Despite having the largest budget in F1, estimated at £260m by the sport's industry monitor Formula Money, Ferrari pays its bills on average 16 days late - slower than any other team.

Ferrari is followed in the payment ranking by McLaren and then Mercedes which settles its bills nine days late according to Dun & Bradstreet (see box). These teams have the sport's second and third highest budgets indicating that in the current economic climate it may not be sustainable for car manufacturers to invest in F1. After all, a healthy business with sufficient cashflow should not be paying its bills weeks after the due date.

Ferrari and Renault are the only two teams which settle their bills slower now than last year with payment time for both increasing by two days. Renault's budget has fallen by £90m in the past year as a result of a reduced involvement from the car manufacturer which sold an undisclosed stake in the team in December to Luxembourg-based Genii Capital.

Although McLaren is the second-slowest team to pay, it has had the biggest improvement in payment time with its bills now settled 12 days quicker than last year. Dun & Bradstreet suggests that McLaren has been dragged down by its brand extension plans which saw it launch a £150,000 super car last month. The report claims that "the plans of co-owner and managing director Ron Dennis to sell upscale sports cars to wealthy motorsport fans put pressure on the situation."

      2010 F1 Team Budgets and Payment Speed

   Team          Est. 2010budget     No.of Day bills paid after due date
 
  Ferrari                 £260m                        16 
  McLaren               £137m                       14 
  Mercedes             £173m                         9 
  Williams                 £85m                         6 
  Renault                £134m                         5 
  Red Bull Racing      £134m                         1 
  Toro Rosso            £82m                          0 
  Force India            £78m                        N/A 
  Sauber                  £46m                        N/A 
  Lotus                    £52m                      No Data 
  Virgin                    £36m                      No Data 
  HRT                      £33m                      No Data 

[Jericoke]

Toyota and Honda already demonstrated that deep pockets aren't a guarantee in F1. 

What I do wonder though, is how Ferrari's budget can be the same level as 5 years ago... when they could test, use a dozen engines and brand new chassis every weekend.  Even paying Kimi to stay home can't take that big a bite.

[Alianora La Canta]

If Ferrari can get the money, of course they're going to spend it. Infinite investigation of infinitesimal incremental improvements remain possible despite the number of tools, processes and exploratory avenues closed.

Of course, that number is going to fall drastically - to around Force India's level - due to the resource restriction. Speaking of which, I find it interesting that Formula Money has given up attempting to track Force India's payment schedule (it was 78 days last time this came out).

[FW14B]

It is interesting to see how much some of the more competitive teams spend in a year, but it will be more interesting to see how some of these teams maintain funding, such aas Renault or STR who surprised me with their high budget!