How much does an F1 title cost?

Mercedes boosted spending on Formula One by 17 per cent to a record 325m pounds last year. Photo / AP

Mercedes have revealed they boosted spending on Formula One by 17 per cent to a record 325m pounds NZ$663m last year which won them the constructors' championship at the weekend and has put Lewis Hamilton on track to win the drivers' title.

Hamilton won Sunday's Russian Grand Prix, extending his lead over his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg to 17 points and the victory handed Mercedes the constructors' title for the first time in the 64-year history of the sport. The secret to their success has been turbo-charging their spending.

Company documents for Mercedes' F1 engine manufacturing division in Northamptonshire show that in 2013 they spent 133.9m pounds, which is nearly double the budget they had just three years earlier. Their costs now come to nearly double those of the sport's lowest-spending team, Caterham.

The rise in spending was driven by F1's switch this year from 2.4-litre V8 engines to 1.6-litre turbo-charged V6s.

The engines have been widely criticised for losing the high-pitched scream of their predecessors but Mercedes have been the biggest beneficiaries. They have won 13 of the 16 races so far this season and have been on the podium at every grand grix.

In addition to the 133.9m pounds cost of their engines, Mercedes spent a staggering 190.7m pounds just on running the F1 team. It is the highest amount that they have spent since Mercedes took over the outfit at the end of 2009.

Next year, Mercedes will lose McLaren as a customer when they switch to Honda engines.

However, they have a replacement waiting in the wings as Lotus, currently languishing in eighth place, announced recently that they will switch their under-performing Renault engine for a more powerful Mercedes.

Hamilton, meanwhile, says that he does not believe that the world title is in the bag yet, despite his lead at the top hitting a new high for the season.

"It is very positive to have the points and be finishing ahead of Nico but history's shown this year that the gap can never be enough," Hamilton said.

"The most important thing is what the gap is at the end of the year. There is never a comfortable feeling. I don't think I ever did have a comfortable feeling when I was in a championship fight.

"It's tense all the way to the end and this is going to go to the end. I just hope that the future is bright in these next few races."

- The Independent