F1 Cost of a Melbourne Race

Each year Ecclestone's company flies six jumbo jets filled with cars and equipment to Melbourne to put on the race. Each of those planes costs $900,000 in fuel and charter costs.

That's more than $5.4 million that Bernie picks up the bill for. One of those planes delivers formula one's outside broadcast facility, which takes up the entire hold of a Boeing 747 freight plane. More than 170 staff, including 65 local contractors, work on the television production.

Each formula one car can carry up to five cameras, while 40 more manned cameras cover the circuit.

A team of almost 70 video editors, producers and technicians put together the television feed and timing information.

It all goes into one single feed, which is screened live in 110 countries by 65 different broadcasters.

From five minutes before the start until the podium presentation, more than 500 million people are seeing that live at the same time. When you see the name Melbourne on screen, 500 million people see the name Melbourne.

 

On the other hand,

Since Melbourne poached the Australian Grand Prix from Adelaide 15 years ago, the race has run up accumulated losses of £156million, while the total licence fee paid to Ecclestone, and his companies totals at least £140m.

In 2010, the Victorian state government here in Melbourne paid £30.74m to cover the event’s losses, including an annual race fee estimated to be more than half that amount to Ecclestone’s company.

 

Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia license expires in 2015 while Bernie Ecclestone Team tries to extent the contract till 2020 with 5 year extension option till 2025.