Reigning champions, Mercedes came close to shattering the record for the most points earned, in 2019. However, this also means that the team will have to pay its highest-ever FIA entry fee for 2020.
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As per the FIA regulations, a basic entry fee is imposed on all teams, plus extra for each point gained in the previous season. This system will most certainly hurt that year’ constructors champion, especially with a slightly higher rate per-point.
After wrapping up both drivers’ and constructor’s titles, Mercedes became the first team to score six consecutive title doubles. In 2019, the German giants bagged 739 points, just shy of its 765-point haul in 2016.
However, the FIA increased the points-based fee in the past two years owing to the US Consumer Price Index. In other words, Mercedes are compelled to pay more for its F1 entry for 2020, despite scoring fewer points than in 2016.
The basic 2020 entry fee for all teams is fixed at $556,509, with an additional $6,677 per point scored in the 2019 season for the winning constructor and $5,563 per point for everybody else.
That all adds up to $4,934,303 for Mercedes’ 739-point haul this year. It was under $200,000 more than its points-based fee from 2016 and over $600,000 higher than its 2019 fee.
All in all, Mercedes’ total entry fee comes to $5,490,812, around $2million more than the next highest entry fee.
Meanwhile, constructors’ championship runners-up, Ferrari must pay $2.8m for the 504 points it scored this year, taking its total fee to $3.3m.
If Mercedes paid the same per-point rate as its rivals, its entry fee would be more than $800,000 cheaper.
At the other end of the table, the Williams team’s nightmare season means it easily has the smallest points-based fee: $5,563 for the solitary point that Robert Kubica scored in the German Grand Prix.
Fortunately, since Mercedes are a fairly big team, they should have no trouble paying the exorbitant fee
