How much does an F1 car cost?

When you watch an F1 car crash and break into pieces, you might not realize just how much that piece of Formula 1 machinery costs to replace. It’s a lot.

Crashes are a reality in Formula 1 or any racing series for that matter.

Drivers certainly try to avoid them. Teams dread them. But sometimes they simply happen and when they do, the cost can be immense.

These aren’t street cars with standard parts after all. They’re specially-made machines and they are very expensive to build and maintain.

How much does an F1 car cost?

In 2021, Motor Sport Magazine came together with F1 Chief Technical Director Pat Symonds to figure out how much a modern F1 car costs and came up with some eye-opening numbers.

• Engine: $18.32 million
• Chasis: $707,000
• Gearbox: $354,000
• Hydraulics: $170,000
• Rear wing: $85,000-$150,000
• Front wing/nose cone: $141,500
• Floor and bargeboards: $141,000
• Brake discs and pads: $78,000
• Small components: $51,000
• Steering wheel: $50,000
• Fuel tank: $31,000
• Halo: $17,000
• Tires: $3,000 per set
• TOTAL: $20.62 million

Those costs are simply for the parts themselves, not the development or manpower involved in making the car a reality.

Obviously, different cars will have different costs, so the money Mercedes puts into their car wouldn’t be the same as Williams. This is just a basic idea of expenses.

Also, those numbers are relative to the previous set of regulations that were in place until 2022. The cars racing in F1 this season may be slightly different.

It is crazy to think about how the steering wheel on an F1 car, which includes two dozen critical inputs, costs considerably more than the entire car most people drive to work every day.

Just don’t think Formula 1 constructors don’t have to think of cost just like the average Joe who has to pay for servicing every year. Cost caps in the sport have made the minor expenses in building a car all the more important.

The current F1 budget cap is $140 million.