Single-seater damage at mid-season of F1 2024
Alongside the Drivers' World Championship is the Destroyers' World Championship, where the amount of money each driver has cost his team is assessed. Sergio Perez leads the way, while Pierre Gasly has yet to cost Alpine anything.
Who says mid-season necessarily means assessment. While 12 of the 24 races have just been completed after the British Grand Prix, it’s time to take a detailed look back at the damage assessment of the single-seaters and how much it has cost the teams.
What is the price of each item?
In Formula 1, the goal is obviously to win, but also not to crash at the risk of losing money for the team since each element of the car costs a certain price. Among them, the monocoque chassis has the highest cost since in case of an accident involving this part of the car, the team will have to pay the sum of $675,000 (approximately €615,000). Below, we find the gearbox, an essential element of each car, with $500,000 (approximately €455,000). We can also mention the floor, the front and rear wings, and the wheel, which is the least expensive element in terms of budget (only $5,000, approximately €4,550).
This season, many accidents have already occurred, putting a strain on the finances of some teams, especially the smaller ones, especially in the event of an accident, due to a budget cap introduced by the FIA just before the 2021 season. It consists of two elements: a limitation on operating budget ($135 million per year) and a limitation on investment expenses such as a new wind tunnel, a new simulator amounting to $45 million for 4 years and then $36 million for a new period of 4 years.
The ranking of damages in 2024
Among the drivers who have caused the most damage to their single-seater, we find Mexican Sergio Perez at the top of the list with $2,864,000 (approximately €2,610,000) since the beginning of the season. This is mainly due to his accident with the two Haas cars in the first lap of the Monaco Grand Prix, which cost Red Bull more than 2 million dollars. We can also mention his accident in Montreal where he lost control of his car while trying to move to the wet part of the track, causing damage to his rear wing. With the budget limitation for each team, this could cause trouble for Red Bull, which is currently under a lot of pressure from its competitors and therefore needs this money to develop their car.
Behind the Mexican driver, we find Alex Albon’s Williams with $2,270,750 (approximately €2,070,500). The Thai driver notably made a mistake during the first free practice session of the Australian Grand Prix, significantly damaging the chassis of his single-seater after hitting the walls of turn 6, causing over a million dollars in damage. Two weeks later, the Williams driver was again involved in an accident, this time on the first lap with Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo, costing the Grove team $880,000 (approximately €803,000).
Finally, it’s Sauber driver Guanyu Zhou who completes the podium with $1,419,000 (approximately €1,294,000), far behind the top two in the standings. His accident during the third free practice session in Jeddah undoubtedly explains his ranking. That day, the Chinese driver, while on a quick lap, lost the rear of his single seater at turn 8 and crashed into the TecPro barriers, ending his session.
Since the start of the season, the Monaco Grand Prix has been the most damaging, with a total of $4,522,000 (approximately €4,122,000) and no less than 7 drivers involved. In addition to the collision between Perez and the two Haas drivers Hülkenberg and Magnussen which caused a red flag, we also find Esteban Ocon ($825,000, approximately €752,000 following his crash with teammate Pierre Gasly); Oscar Piastri ($225,000, approximately €205,000 following his contact with Sainz at the start which caused damage to the underbody of his McLaren); Charles Leclerc ($225,000, approximately €205,000) and Guanyu Zhou ($125,000, approximately €114,000 after damaging the nose of his Sauber at Sainte Devote).
In total, 4 drivers only caused damage on one occasion this season. Among them, we have: Lewis Hamilton in Austria ($320,000, approximately €292,000 after sustaining damage to his floor), his teammate George Russell ($832,000, approximately €758,000 following his accident in Australia while trying to overtake Fernando Alonso), Valtteri Bottas during the opening race in Bahrain ($125,000, approximately €114,000), and Yuki Tsunoda in China ($5,000, approximately €4,550 due to a wheel issue). Finally, Pierre Gasly is the only driver who has not suffered any damage since the beginning of the season.
Which team is most affected in this championship?
As in the constructors’ championship, it is Red Bull who is leading with a total of $3,549,000 (approximately €3,236,000) since the start of the season. A fairly substantial sum when you consider that all teams are subject to the Budget Cap. However, the Austrian team is closely followed by Williams with $3,546,750 (approximately €3,235,000).
To finish, Aston Martin completes the podium. Along with Williams, it is the only team to have two drivers who have caused more than a million damages in the person of Fernando Alonso, due to his accident in Imola during practice, and Lance Stroll with his crash during the Jeddah race when he lost control of his car at turn 23 in the 7th lap.
On the other hand, McLaren is the team that had to pay the least for damages to its cars with less than a million dollars to spend, allowing the Woking team to focus more on performance. Just ahead of them, we find Alpine, especially thanks to the work of Pierre Gasly who has not yet caused any damage to his car.
This ranking is problematic for some teams, which therefore incur unnecessary expenses to repair damaged parts. Some of them are in a tight situation because of the budget cap, which, while beneficial for tightening performance between each single-seater, can also have disadvantages as explained by the FIA: « The problem with financial regulations is that, on the one hand, they mean that someone cannot spend three times more than someone else, which is a good thing. But on the other hand, it also means that if you are behind someone, you cannot go all out and proceed with an upgrade. »
This is particularly the case for Williams, who, after Albon’s crash in Australia, decided, in order to stay within the budget cap, to confiscate Logan Sargeant’s chassis to put it in the Thai driver’s single-seater because the team no longer had one available. Essential adjustments for each team to limit costs and still be able to improve its single-seater. The question now is whether this ranking will evolve until the end of the season.
