Formula One paid its teams $1.4 billion in 2025, yet Red Bull Racing reported a profit of about 1.7 million pounds and Williams has lost more than 200 million pounds since 2020. So who actually makes money in Formula One? This video follows the money from race hosting fees, TV deals and sponsors, through a secret prize-money contract, into the teams’ own accounts, and shows why the real prize is often the value of a seat on the grid.
Chapters
0:00 The contradiction
1:14 Follow the money
1:41 The sale that built it
2:26 Three revenue streams
3:02 Hosting fees nobody publishes
3:58 Media rights
5:27 What reaches the teams
5:53 The secret split
7:02 Inside the teams’ books
8:51 The cost cap
9:17 The valuation jump
12:09 The owner turns promoter
12:54 So who profits?
13:43 Next: why the cars cost millions
Facts are current as of October 1, 2026. Hosting fees, title sponsorship values, the prize-money split, the Apple deal value and team valuations are press or analyst estimates, not published figures, and are labeled that way in the video. The average of about $43 million per race is our own arithmetic from Liberty Media’s reported numbers.
This video uses an AI-generated narrator voice and AI-generated illustrations. The script was written and checked from the sources below. NEXUMDOC is not affiliated with Formula 1, Liberty Media or any team.
Part 3 of NEXUMDOC’s F1 series. Part 1: How Formula 1 Moves an Entire Sport Around the World. Part 2: What It Costs to Move an F1 Team Between Countries.
Music
Readers! Do You Read by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/reappear/
Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/
Sources
https://www.libertymedia.com/investors/news-events/press-releases/detail/139/liberty-media-corporation-agrees-to-acquire-formula-one
https://www.libertymedia.com/investors/news-events/press-releases/detail/305/liberty-media-corporation-completes-acquisition-of-formula-1
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1560385/000156038526000006/lmca-20260226xex99d1.htm
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/3-700-miles-home-why-155500954.html
https://africa.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/46596025/formula-1-announces-new-apple-tv-us-broadcast-deal
https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2022/driven-to-watch-how-a-sports-docuseries-drove-u-s-fans-to-formula-1/
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/top-formula-1-team-sponsors-110000025.html
https://www.planetf1.com/features/f1-sponsorship-deals-value-teams
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/f1-2025-prize-money-split-revealed-mclaren-only-fourth/
https://www.blackbookmotorsport.com/news/f1-commercial-concorde-agreement-general-motors-cadillac-march-2025/
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https://racingnews365.com/williams-halve-financial-loss-after-best-f1-season-for-decade
https://moneyinsport.substack.com/p/takeaways-from-formula-1-financials
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/explained-what-is-the-f1-cost-cap-and-why-has-it-gone-up.2tYtDIe5SbE5utjThctBT3
https://www.blackbookmotorsport.com/news/f1-team-valuations-ferrari-mercedes-red-bull-mclaren-november-2025/
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business-of-sports/2026/02/24/valuating-f1-teams/
https://media.renaultgroup.com/alpine-racing-ltd-finalises-the-sale-of-24-of-its-share-capital-for-eur200m-to-investor-group-led-by-otro-capital/
https://www.sportcal.com/news/report-mclaren-f1-valued-at-over-3bn-as-owners-buy-remaining-shares/
https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/500m-paddock-building-topped-off-5-months-ahead-of-las-vegas-f1-race-weekend
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