14/09/2007
NEWS STORY
McLaren today received a record $100m fine as a result of a spying controversy, however a new report Formula Money demonstrates that the team could only end up paying $30m.
Although the team has been stripped of all 2007 constructors' points and can score no points for the remainder of the season, the FIA said that the fine will be "equal to 100 million dollar, less the FOM income lost as a result of the points deduction".
Before the FIA ruling, McLaren led the championship by 23 points from Ferrari with four races remaining. Winning the championship would entitle it to $68.9m in prize money from FOM (Formula One Management), according to figures published in Formula Money, meaning that its final fine could be reduced to $31.1m –
less than a third of the original total.
This season the teams expect to receive approximately double the prize money of previous years under a new commercial agreement signed last year with FOM's owners.
According to the most recent company accounts, up to the end of 2005, the McLaren Group only had £2.5m (around $5m) in cash in the bank and at hand – still nowhere near enough to cover the fine. The team is owned 40% by Mercedes-Benz, 30% by the Bahraini government investment vehicle Mumtalakat Holdings, and 15% each by TAG Group Holdings and team principal Ron Dennis.
McLaren Racing, the group company that manages the F1 team, turned over £113.3m in 2005, making a profit after tax of £4.9m. These details are compared alongside those for other teams in Formula Money's detailed team section.
Formula Money is a new data report on the business behind Formula One, which contains all of the key data for understanding the industry in a single volume for the first time. It contains more than 200 tables and diagrams including a breakdown of every current sponsorship deal, all race sanction fees, the total resources of each team, and a comparison of team turnover stretching back 20 years.
The publishing partner of Formula Money is CNC, the consultancy which has worked with and represented several major sponsors, all car manufacturers and 8 of the 11 teams which participate in F1.
The report has also received support from FIA president Max Mosley who said that: "Formula One is a complex business but Formula Money appears to get right to the heart of it. Although the FIA is not responsible for the commercial side of the sport, for anyone involved or looking to get involved with the business, this report will give an insight not available elsewhere."