Ecclestone happy with F1 turnover

Bernie Ecclestone, the billionaire boss of Formula One motor racing, has good reason to celebrate as this year's season draws to a close. Today's penultimate race in China could crown the British superstar Lewis Hamilton as the youngest World Champion, and annual turnover has reached a new high of $4.3bn (£2.1bn). This is according to Formula Money, the first annual review of F1's financial health. An independent report backed by the consultancy firm CNC, it analyses the massive funds flowing through F1.

The biggest component of the sport's total turnover is the $1.5bn spent by the owners of its 11 teams. Six of the world's major car manufacturers, BMW, Ferrari, Honda, Mercedes, Renault and Toyota, alone pump a total of $1.3bn into their teams, providing around half of their revenues. The lion's share of the remainder is made up of on-car sponsorship, which this year totals around $835m.

Companies controlled by Mr. Ecclestone also receive revenues from TV rights, race hosting fees, trackside advertising and corporate hospitality. The TV rights are the main breadwinner for Mr. Ecclestone's F1 Group, which is majority-owned by the private equity firm CVC. They pull in around $380m annually, with the UK's ITV network alone believed to be paying $45m. To date, the teams' only share of the F1 Group's spoils has been 47 per cent of the revenues from TV rights but, under a new deal, this year they expect to get 50 per cent of underlying profits from all commercial rights revenues, bringing their prize money to around $480m. More at Independent Online