Lando Norris to Pay Highest F1 Super License Fee After 2025 Title Win

Lando Norris's 2025 F1 championship victory comes with a new distinction: the largest super license fee for the 2026 season. The McLaren driver narrowly edged out Max Verstappen for the top spot on the list, ending the Dutchman's four-year reign as the sport's highest-billed driver.

Why it matters:

• The super license fee acts as a direct financial reflection of a driver's on-track success from the previous year, making the highest bill a symbolic title of its own.
• It highlights the immense operational costs of competing in Formula 1, where even administrative requirements run into the seven figures for top performers.
• Crucially, these costs are covered by the teams and are excluded from the F1 budget cap, representing a separate 'cost of success'.

By the numbers:

• Top Bill: Norris will pay €1,023,658 for his 423 championship points, just ahead of Verstappen's €1,018,874 for his 421 points.
• Cost Breakdown: The fee is calculated with a base rate of €11,842, plus an additional €2,392 for every championship point scored in 2025.
• Million-Dollar Club: Norris and Verstappen are joined by Oscar Piastri (€999,562) as the only drivers whose fees approach or exceed the €1 million mark.
• Minimum Fee: Drivers who scored no points in 2025, like Franco Colapinto, along with rookies Arvid Lindblad and returning drivers Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez, will only pay the base fee.

The big picture:

This annual cost structure is a straightforward, if expensive, reward system that translates on-track dominance into a direct financial obligation. While a significant sum, the license fee is just a small drop in the ocean of a top team's overall budget, underscoring the financial scale of modern Formula 1. For Norris, the bill serves as another tangible reminder of his dominant 2025 campaign, a price paid for securing the championship crown.