Despite winning both titles, Mercedes all-conquering 2014 season sees German team post £77m loss.

The loss is revealed in company accounts filed today, and comes at a time Red Bull is considering its future in the sport, Renault is poised to buy Lotus and the EU is about to investigate F1's governance and how the prize money is shared out.

Whilst turnover, which includes income from sponsors and prize money was £146.9m - up form £125.2m in 2013, operating costs were up from £190.7m to £240.2m, which, according to the company was due to "significantly higher bonuses payable as a consequence of the record-breaking level of sporting performance and also increased costs arising from regulation change".

Revealing also that the headcount increased from 663 in 2013 to 765 in 2014, which saw wages and salaries rise from £49.7m to £65.2m, each team member is understood to have received a minimum of £10,000 when the Brackley-based outfit won the titles.

Furthermore, Toto Wolff, who owns 30 percent of Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd, received £6m up from £3.9m in 2013.

Ahead of the EU investigation, and at a time Red Bull is understood to have received around £25m more than Mercedes in prize money in 2014, the accounts note: "The agreement with the Commercial Rights Holder has provisions for significantly increased revenue flows based on sporting performance, some of which will be triggered in 2015 as a result of the team's performance in 2014."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by hardtrier, 06/10/2015 10:41

"£240 million to put two cars on the grid for 19 races is madness - nearly £13M per race.

One has to wonder how sustainable that it is and no wonder that most of the grid can't compete and actually a testament to the smaller teams on getting anywhere close to them on pace."

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2. Posted by scf1fan, 03/10/2015 18:01

"@Jet Jockey - "So you are supposed to make money by racing in F1?" ask that to the teams like Williams and Sauber. The answer would be yes; that's the only way they get to pay their own salaries . . .

It's still everything you said, but . . . It was super expensive for Toyota, they left . . . It was super expensive for BMW, they left . . . Same with Ford and Honda and others. Generally Williams makes money. (Not every year, but over time they are at least breaking even.) I'm not sure about Ferrari racing, since historically, they acknowledge that they sell road cars so they can go race cars, but they also have the most lucrative contracts in F1.

Am I crying for MB, no. I just don't want to see the situation where they decide that their super expensive advertising isn't worth it, and they leave the sport. "

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3. Posted by Jet Jockey, 03/10/2015 14:42

"So you are supposed to make money by racing in F1?

I thought F1 racing or any kind of racing was just a means to show your racing prowess, your newly developed technologies, your know how through R&D and to show off the brand to the public, basically a form of super expensive advertising.

LOL… I wouldn’t be surprised that the loss was even higher than advertised by MB.
Enter your comment here"

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4. Posted by scf1fan, 02/10/2015 22:04

"So one has to ask . . . . If no one is making money in F1, what the heck is everyone doing here?

What isn't spoken of directly in the article though is that for their 77mil "loss" . . . . how much advertising does the F1 exposure give MB? (And RB, and Renault . . . ) And then the big question will end up being, is that worth it?

Perhaps MB was a little too generous with the bonuses in that they hadn't expected to "crush" the rest of the competition; so perhaps if Toto and Niki had structured the payouts differently, the "loss" would have been less. I guess we'll get to see how this plays out when the EU forces everyone to show their real numbers. "

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Title winners Mercedes post £77m loss

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