Formula 1 teams have been officially notified of a dramatic rise in the entry fees for next year's World Championship.
After much discussion about the matter in recent weeks – with teams seeking clarification on why the costs were going up – the FIA has finally revised its sporting regulations to confirm the scale of the increase. As expected, the governing body amended the original plan to include a system whereby the champion team pays a premium price.
Under Appendix 7 of the newly published 2012 Sporting Regulations, the governing body states that there will be two levels of fees for teams.
The constructors' champions will have to pay a base $500,000 plus $6000 per point gained in the standings. Every other team that wants to enter will have to pay the basic $500,000 plus $5000 per point.
Looking at last year's world championship standings, it means teams will see their entry fee costs rise from last year's standard rate of 309,000 euro ($397,899) to:
Red Bull (650 points) $4.400 million
McLaren (497 points) $2.985 million
Ferrari (375 points) $2.375 million
Mercedes (165 points) $1.325 million
Lotus (73 points) $865,000
Force India (69 points) $845,000
Sauber (44 points) $720,000
Toro Rosso (41 points) $705,000
Williams (5 points) $525,000
Caterham (0 points) $500,000
HRT (0 points) $500,000
Marussia (0 points) $500,000
The updated Sporting Regulations do not lay out a final entry deadline for teams, but do state that teams must pay the entry fee by Nov. 30.
The FIA's decision to increase entry fees comes amid a push by the governing body to increase the revenue it gets from the sport. It is believed to be chasing a total income of $40 million per season as part of a new commercial structure.
The total revenue generated by the entry fees will be at least $16.3 million, while the governing body is close to agreeing a $24 million payment from commercial chief Bernie Ecclestone as part of a Concorde Agreement deal. These payments, allied to an increase in F1 Superlicense fees for drivers, will help the FIA hit its revenue target.