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Formula 1 may look like one of the most glamorous sports in the world with rich teams, famous drivers, and huge money, but behind the scenes, it depends heavily on thousands of volunteers.<\/p>\n
The sport\u2019s governing body, the FIA, has now highlighted just how important these volunteers are. In a recent report, using data from race organisers, it revealed that the smooth and safe running of races relies on a large number of dedicated people who offer their time for free.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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Without volunteers we couldn\u2019t go racing and the FIA F1 Volunteer Report has revealed the unique role they have powering Formula 1.#FIAF1VolunteerReport<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/8hR7zV7CGM<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 FIA (@fia) April 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n To organise a single round of the 2025\u00a0F1\u00a0championship, it said, required an average of 838 trained motorsport volunteers \u2014 a ratio of roughly 42 for every\u00a0F1\u00a0driver competing on track.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n That added up to a total of 965,376 hours over a season, although the report warned this was \u201calmost certainly an underestimation of the total volunteer commitment\u2026as it only captures hours spent \u2018on duty\u2019 across the race weekend\u201d and not preparatory training.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n True Backbone of Formula 1\u00a0<\/p>\n The report, based on research by the FIA University, found also that volunteers contributed an estimated 13.2 million euros ($15.5 million) worth of support annually \u2014 a significant amount but still a fraction of the salaries of drivers like Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris.<\/p>\n According to\u00a0www.forbes.com,Verstappen earned $76 million in 2025 from salary and endorsements. The Ferrari team is worth more than $6 billion while\u00a0F1\u00a0owners Liberty Media reported revenue of $3.87 billion last year.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udea8F1\u2019s real heroes \ud83e\udee1
We watch the race every weekend, celebrate the winner on Sunday and the champion at season\u2019s end \u2013 but F1\u2019s real heroes are the volunteers. The FIA says \ud835\udfd0\ud835\udfce,\ud835\udfcf\ud835\udfcf\ud835\udfd0 volunteers gave \ud835\udfd7\ud835\udfd4\ud835\udfd3,\ud835\udfd1\ud835\udfd5\ud835\udfd4 hours in 2025, averaging \ud835\udfd6\ud835\udfd1\ud835\udfd6 per race weekend to make the\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/SxudM4DhKo<\/a><\/p>\n