Formula One’s ​governing body has thrown fresh light on the contribution of an unpaid army of motorsport volunteers underpinning ‌the glamorous cash-rich world of millionaire drivers, luxury brands and A-list celebrities.

The ​International Automobile Federation (FIA) published a report on Friday, with data provided by ⁠race organisers, that it said captured accurately for the first time how much the safe and efficient staging of races relied on committed men and women offering their time for free.

To organise a ‌single round of the 2025 F1 championship, it said, required an average of 838 trained motorsport volunteers — a ratio of roughly 42 for every F1 ‌driver competing on track.

A minimum of 20,112 were needed to support the 24-race season, ‌with ⁠each committing an average of 48 hours over the course of a ⁠three-day race weekend.

That added up to a total of 965,376 hours over a season, although the report warned this was “almost certainly an underestimation of the total volunteer commitment…as it only captures hours spent ‘on duty’ across the ​race weekend” and not preparatory training.

The list ‌of volunteer positions includes flag marshals, observers, incident officers and extrication teams who spring into action when things go wrong on track, as well as stewards.

ALSO READ | Verstappen’s race engineer Lambiase to leave Red Bull for McLaren at end of the season

TRUE BACKBONE OF THE SPORT

The report, based on research by the FIA University, found also that volunteers ‌contributed an estimated 13.2 million euros (USD 15.5 million) worth of support annually — a significant ​amount but still a fraction of the salaries of drivers like Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris. According to www.forbes.com, Verstappen earned USD 76 million ⁠in 2025 from salary and endorsements. The Ferrari team is worth more than USD 6 billion while F1 owners Liberty Media reported revenue of USD 3.87 billion last year.

The FIA said training and development programmes ‌provided by it and member clubs at every grand prix equated to more than 11 million euros of investment.

“The FIA Formula One World Championship relies on volunteers, they are the backbone of our sport – without them we simply could not go racing,” said FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

“They ensure our competitions are safe and fair. They act with professionalism and pride, and they support drivers, teams and fans.”

The report said that on average the ‌workload of volunteers had increased by 20 per cent in the past five years and 65 per cent either took annual ​or unpaid leave in order to be present.

Two out of three volunteers supporting F1 events had done so for at least five years. In just ⁠under a third of cases the involvement extended to more than 10 years.

“There is no comparable ⁠sport in the world that requires the same level of technical scrutiny or number of professionally qualified volunteers,” the report said.

The next closest is the World ‌Rally Championship, which requires more volunteers per event but has far fewer rounds and more competitors.

The report recommended investment in a dedicated Centre of Excellence with a series ​of full-time paid roles that would also incentivise individuals to advance through the ranks.

Published on Apr 10, 2026