Here’s what every F1 team must pay to compete in 2026

December 10, 2025 Oliver Obel

According to figures reported by GiveMeSport, McLaren’s dominant campaign capped by Lando Norris edging Max Verstappen for the Drivers’ Championship and another Constructors’ title puts the team on track for an estimated $7.7 million entry fee. That total reflects the two-part formula governing participation costs: a universal base charge and an additional fee for every point earned the previous season.

The calculation is simple in principle but punishing in practice. With point totals rising as the calendar expands and teams become more competitive, even strong mid-table seasons now carry million-dollar consequences. McLaren’s 666 points make them the most expensive entry of 2026 by a wide margin a price they’re unlikely to complain about, given the trophy cabinet haul.

A shifting financial landscape

Beyond the familiar giants, the grid is set to look slightly different next year with the arrival of Cadillac, the series’ 11th team. As GiveMeSport notes, the American entrant owes only the baseline $703,330 because it scored no points in 2025, but it must also pay the substantial $500 million anti-dilution fee a mechanism created to protect the value of existing teams when a newcomer joins.

That fee alone reshapes the sport’s economics. With so much capital on the table, even established outfits are reassessing long-term financial strategies in the cost-cap era.

Stories behind the figures

Not every fee reflects a season of celebration. Alpine, for instance, faces a projected charge of roughly $858,000 after a turbulent year that still yielded an oddly high 22 points for a last-place finish. Sauber, preparing to transform into Audi, lands near $1.19 million, boosted in part by Nico Hülkenberg’s unexpected podium at Silverstone their first in more than a decade.

Meanwhile, Haas will pay about $1.26 million, entering its tenth year in Formula One while still chasing a long-awaited return to the podium. Aston Martin, a team with championship pedigree on paper, sits around $1.33 million after a season where Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll rarely looked capable of meaningful points hauls.

The tightening midfield

On the competitive bubble sits Racing Bulls, owing about $1.35 million after celebrating Isak Hadjar’s maiden podium before he moves up to Red Bull. Williams, energized by new sponsorship and Carlos Sainz Jr.’s breakthrough podium, climbs higher at $1.66 million a reminder of how quickly costs scale once a team consistently reaches Q3.

At the sharp end of the grid

For the front-runners, entry fees reflect both success and pressure.

Ferrari: roughly $3.5 million, after a season split between Charles Leclerc’s seven podiums and Lewis Hamilton’s unexpectedly lean campaign.
Red Bull: about $3.87 million, following a turbulent year marked by Christian Horner’s departure and Verstappen’s narrow defeat in the title fight.
Mercedes: near $4 million, buoyed by a combined 12 podiums from George Russell and rising talent Kimi Antonelli.

And finally, towering over the field, is McLaren the team that turned consistency, speed, and strategic clarity into a title run. Their projected entry fee underscores a paradox that has become part of modern Formula One: the better you are, the more you pay to stay that way.

With a new team joining the fold and point totals trending upward across the grid, 2026 could become one of the most financially consequential seasons the championship has seen.

Sources: GiveMeSport