'I don't think it's right': In Formula 1 the more you win, the more you pay to race the next season

With the Formula 1 season at a conclusion, reports of soaring super licence fees have once again surfaced, as drivers find out how much they must shell out to be eligible to compete in 2026.

Success in F1 comes with a hefty price tag, each driver mandated to pay a substantial sum for their FIA super licence each season they race - and it is indeed the driver, not their team, who is required to pay (although that's not always how it transpires).

As reported by PlanetF1, Lando Norris is set for a hefty one million euro cost ($1,800,432 AUD) for his 2026 super licence after he picked up 423 points during the 2025 season.

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Max Verstappen follows close behind with a $1,792,020 AUD bill, his third consecutive year of hitting the one million euro threshold and paying handsomely for his licence.

In 2023, the Dutchman copped the highest cost ever in the sport's history after his whopping 575 points forced him to pay nearly two million Euros to race the following season.

For Oscar Piastri, he fell just short of the million euro mark, paying $1,744,984 AUD for his licence.

Due to his successful 2025 campaign, his fee represents an increase of nearly $50,000 AUD from his previous year's cost.

Paying to race?

Drivers have to pay a base fee every year for their super licence, which is believed to be in the region of €11,842 ($20,810 AUD). This is 10 per cent more than the 2024 cost.

On top of that, drivers are slapped with a €2,392 ($4,200 AUD) per-point fee, which adds up quickly. The moral of the story is that the more successful you are, the more you pay.

Every payment goes to the FIA, the organisation that manages all the rules and regulations in F1 and they use these funds to improve safety at each of the 24 race weekends.

Who foots the bill? Well, it depends.

The fees are legally required to come straight from the driver, with the understanding that they pay for it themselves.

But, when asked in 2023 about his record-breaking cost, Verstappen lifted the lid on Red Bull paying for his super licence fees.

"The team pays that, fortunately," Verstappen revealed to Dutch broadcaster Viaplay.

"I do think there should be some normal ratio in that – but you know, things like that get written down, and I don't think anybody expected that there would end up being that many points scored.

"I don't think it's right that we have to pay so much," he added.

"It's not the case in other sports either. And there are more and more races."

It's widely understood that top teams are willing to foot the bill to lure talented drivers into their ranks, making it a contractual obligation for super licence fees to be part of the overall team budget.

Drivers further down the grid and incoming rookies are often expected to cover the cost themselves.

Verstappen has also labelled the fees "absurd" in recent years, and with the ongoing frosty exchanges between drivers and the FIA during the 2025 season, it could result in these massive fees becoming a major point of contention.

If there is an unwillingness to open their wallets for the governing body, drivers could aim to change where their hundreds of thousands of dollars are being siphoned in the sport.

Below is the table for the approximate fees each driver will fork out for the 2026 super licence fees: