The business of racing in Formula 1 can be an expensive affair. That being said, all the drivers that are on that storied Formula 1 grid have come here on merit. It’s their seat. They shouldn’t have to pay some kind of membership fee, right? Well, according to the FIA, the governing body of the sport, F1 teams, and drivers both have to shell out a ludicrous sum of money if they want to be able to compete in Formula 1 every year. And Red Bull’s star boy, Max Verstappen takes the biggest dent in his pocket out of all.

According to the rules of the FIA, the drivers have to pay a certain amount of money every year to renew their super license. The base fee that each driver must pay is around $11,000. However, things get a bit exorbitant from here on. In addition to the base fee, the drivers also have to shell out around $2,200 for each point they have scored in the previous season. With the dominant run Verstappen was on last year, he has had the biggest financial damage done to him out of all the 20 drivers on the grid.

According to the calculations, Verstappen owes the FIA a whopping $1 million to renew his super license. And this isn’t lost on the Dutch lion. He was quoted by Motorsport-Total as saying, “I think the sum is absurd. I don’t think it’s right that we have to pay so much. That’s not the case in other sports either. And there are more and more races.”

But it seems Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has shrugged off Verstappen’s concerns. As it turns out, the 2x champion doesn’t have to pay a single cent of that amount! The F1 man, Vincenzo Landino quoted the Austrian saying, “I’m afraid we have to pay that, if I have our contract right in my head.”

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The FIA isn’t always on the wrong side of the defending champion. But the bill handed out to Verstappen isn’t the only thing he’s miffed about.

Max Verstappen calls out the FIA for the unnecessary ban

The entire Formula 1 community was appalled when the FIA amended the International Sporting Code to effectively stifle free speech. According to the new rules, drivers cannot make political, religious, or personal comments without the express approval of the FIA. However, Verstappen isn’t a fan of this idea.

He told Sky Sports, “I’m normally not that outspoken of that because first of all its tough as a racing driver to be fully committed to that in terms of going into everything and making sure that you know all the facts. But I don’t think it is necessary, because you’re basically making sure that people aren’t allowed to speak anymore, which I think we should be allowed.”

“Some people will speak a bit more, some not. But it [the ban] was probably a bit unnecessary.”

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Do you think the latest regulatory clampdown by the FIA is in fact absurd and unnecessary?