Red Bull Racing spend reaches £196 million for 2014

(Florent Gooden DPPI for Renault Sport F1)

Infiniti Red Bull Racing, the Formula One Constructors champions from 2010-2013 spent £196 million on their Formula One campaign for 2014 and consolidated second place in the championship according to a report in the UK Independent.

In contrast, the Marussia F1 Team who ceased operation on Friday with the loss of 200 jobs spent £76 million while the Caterham F1 Team spent £42 million and resorted to crowd funding in order for the Leafield based outfit to make the season finale in Abu Dhabi next weekend. The team have so far had a pledge of £1.1 million of the £2.35 million needed to go racing at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi.

The report revealed that Infiniti Red Bull Racing's income from 2013 was £197 million which the paper said came from three sources, the first being from their  parent company Red Bull while the other revenue came from sponsorship money and prize money funds having won the Constructors champion in 2013.

Last season, Infiniti Red Bull Racing spent £83 million just shy of double what the Caterham F1 Team's entire budget for 2014 was and £7 million more compared to what the Marussia F1 Team spent in 2014.

While the Marussia F1 Team had a workforce of 200 employees, Infiniti Red Bull Racing have a staff army of 675 more then double the size of Marussia.

This years champions Mercedes AMG PETRONAS F1 Team have 500 employees working in Brackley and as a reward for their success each member of staff at the Silver Arrows will receive an end of year bonus of £10,000 each.

The large sums of money just goes to show the financial disparage between the top teams and the smaller teams in Formula One and shows why something needs to be done urgently and not just a short term solution to what has been a long standing problem in Formula One which has caused the sport to be in the headlines for all the wrong reasons when we should be celebrating the fact that we have had a sensational season to remember which will have an incredible conclusion in Abu Dhabi next weekend.

© Ben Johnston 2014