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Here's how wildly expensive it is to participate in F1

The cost of competing in Formula One racing is extremely high. Not in the physical and lifestyle sense, although that too takes a major toll on each team and driver, but in a literal hand-over-the-cash sense. Each F1 team pays hundreds of thousands of dollars to enter, plus a fee for every single point the team earned in the previous season. Motorsport.com recently detailed just how absurdly pricey entering the F1 field is. According to the piece, the price of entry goes up each year due to the U.S. Consumer Price Index. For 2019, the entry fee is $546,133, and it doesn't stop there. There are additional dues required of each team based on where the team finished in the previous season. Interestingly, the winners pay more. For example, Mercedes-Benz, the constructor champion for the past five years, must pay $6,553 per point it scored in 2018. With 655 points scored, that's $4,292,215. All other teams must pay $5,459 per point. For a full rundown of what the teams will be paying for 2019, check out the full article here.Related Video:

Lewis Hamilton wins Russian Grand Prix in 1-2 victory for Mercedes

SOCHI, Russia — Lewis Hamilton coasted to a comfortable victory and led a Mercedes one-two finish at the Russian Grand Prix on Sunday to tighten his grip on a sixth World Championship. In a calamitous few laps for Ferrari, the Italian team threw away a possible one-two finish of its own after Sebastian Vettel broke down and Charles Leclerc dropped from first to third. Valtteri Bottas followed teammate Hamilton home at the Sochi Autodrome as Mercedes secured the full quota of points. Hamilton now leads Bottas in the championship by 73 points. Leclerc is 107 points behind the British driver. Max Verstappen finished fourth ahead of Red Bull teammate Alex Albon, who started last after he crashed out during qualifying. "What an effort, guys," said a jubilant Hamilton on the radio after the race. "What an incredible job. That is exactly what we needed. We never give up." Ferrari had already got themselves into a needless mess before Vettel retired with an engine failure on lap 28. Vettel got the jump on pole-sitter Leclerc on the long drag down to the second corner but a curious pre-race arrangement had Leclerc calling for the roles to be reversed. It appears that the team had agreed that if Vettel benefited from Leclerc's slipstream and moved ahead of the Frenchman off the start line, he would have to concede the position. Ferrari were on the radio to tell Vettel to let Leclerc by, but the four-time world champion resisted the order. Leclerc protested over the radio. "You put me behind and I respected everything," he said. "We will talk later." The Ferrari pit wall were on to Vettel again, but again the German refused to let his teammate pass, fearing that he would be exposed to Hamilton in third place if he slowed down. Leclerc was the first to stop on lap 22, but instead of calling in Vettel the next time around Vettel was left on old tires as his teammate put in several fast laps on his fresh tires. Four laps after Leclerc pitted, Vettel was eventually called in and by the time he emerged he had fallen behind his teammate and into second place. Just moments later disaster struck as Vettel broke down with an engine failure. It was then to get worse for the Scuderia. With Vettel's broken down machine in a precarious position, the virtual safety car was deployed to slow down the field, allowing Hamilton, who had yet to pit, a free stop for tires and the lead of the race. George Russell then crashed out in his Williams and the full safety car was deployed.

Mercedes-Benz to boost stake in Aston Martin to 20%, lend it some tech

Daimler unit Mercedes-Benz is to lift its stake in Britain's Aston Martin to up to 20% by 2023, making it one of the struggling British carmaker's largest shareholders, Aston said on Tuesday. Aston Martin, popular for being James Bond's carmaker of choice, has suffered a torrid time since it went public two years ago, with its shares losing two-thirds of their value this year. The 107-year-old firm hired Tobias Moers, former CEO of Mercedes-AMG, as its new boss from August. Aston said the increase in Mercedes-Benz's stake, from 2.6% currently, would take place in several stages as part of a wider issue of 250 million shares at 50 pence each. The stock issued to the German group will have a maximum value of 286 million pounds ($372.7 million), it said. The deal will see an existing supply agreement between the two firms, in place since 2013, expanded to give Aston Martin access to key Mercedes' technology, including hybrid and electric drive systems. "We take another major step forward as our long-term partnership with Mercedes-Benz AG moves to another level, with them becoming one of the company's largest shareholders," said Aston's chairman and biggest shareholder Lawrence Stroll. The German firm will get the right to nominate one non-executive director to Aston Martin's board after its first shareholding increase, the London-listed firm said. Aston, which has started deliveries of its first sport utility vehicle, the DBX, said on Tuesday it swung into an adjusted core loss of 29 million pounds in the third quarter, versus a profit of 43 million pounds last year. Revenue in the period nearly halved to 124 million pounds, it said. Aston Martin is targeting annual capex of 250 million pounds to 300 million pounds per year between 2021 and 2025. It envisages production volumes of about 10,000 units, revenues of about 2 billion pounds and adjusted core profit of 500 million pounds by financial years 2024 or 2025.