Red Bull driver Sergio Perez has caused the highest amount of damage-induced costs so far during the season, having been involved in a series of incident in the opening 21 rounds of the 2024 F1 season. F1Technical’s lead journalist Balázs Szabó delivers his latest analysis.
Although there used to be little talk about the costs that drivers caused with crashes and other incidents in the past, it has become much more crucial in recent years since the introduction of the financial ceiling.
Teams are required to complete the season from a budget of $135 million, with the financial cap having been introduced four years ago.
From all the parts that make up an F1 car, the chassis is the most expensive. It is believed to cost around $675,000 (approximately €615,000). Interestingly, the gearbox is the second most expensive part of an F1 car, with its price estimated $500,000 (approximately €455,000). Further elements that can easily pick up damage are the floor, the front and rear wings, and the wheels.
Among the drivers, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez found himself atop the list that includes drivers who have caused the most damage to their single-seater.
The damage caused by the Mexican is around $4,861,000 since the beginning of the season. The majority of that came from an incident with the two Haas drivers that happened on the first lap of the Monaco Grand Prix.
The six-time F1 race winner was hit by Kevin Magnussen, who was slightly overambitious on the run up to the Massenet hill. The incident caused heavy damage to the chassis of Perez’s RB20 which is the most expensive part of a modern F1 car.
Alex Albon found himself in second place on the list, having caused Williams a cost of around $4,664,750. Although the London-born Thai driver does not often make mistakes, his incident at Melbourne caused heavy damage to the chassis of his FW38. Williams was forced to withdraw Albon’s car at the Australian Grand Prix, but he could continue to race on that weekend after the British outfit had elected to hand over Logan Sargeant’s car to the Thai driver.
Two weeks after the Melbourne round, Albon was again involved in an accident, this time on the first lap with Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo, costing the Grove-headquartered team $880,000 (approximately €803,000).
The London-born racer then suffered a huge crash in qualifying at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, having lost control of his FW46 into the first corner. Such was the damage that Williams was forced to withdraw Albon’s car from the Interlagos race.
Franco Colapinto replaced Logan Sargeant at the Italian Grand Prix, and he enjoyed a very successful start to his F1 career. However, he then suffered a series of crashes, including two heavy shunts at Sao Paulo and then another huge crash at Las Vegas. The Argentinean driver caused a damage of approximatly $4,436,000, and was forced to complete the last two races of the season with some old-spec parts.
Mercedes driver George Russell hardly caused any damage to his car during the opening part of the season, but he endured tough fortunes at the United States and the Mexico City Grands Prix. The Briton lost control of his car during the last segment of qualifying in Texas and in Free Practice 2 in Mexico City, with both incidents having led to enormous costs.
There were seven drivers who have caused less damage than $1,000,000. Among them were world champion Max Verstappen, the McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Lewis Hamilton.
Alpine racer Pierre Gasly is the only driver who has not suffered any damage during the longest season of Formula One, which has helped the Enstone-based squad focus its resources on its development programme rather than manufacturing spare parts.
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