Ferrari Is F1's Most-Valuable Team, Forbes Values Team At $1.15B

One of F1’s "best stories" is Red Bull Racing, which "clinched its third constructors’ championship in three years," according to Chris Smith of FORBES. Red Bull "debuted just seven years ago, built from the ground up by an energy drink company, not an ownership group with the customary background in motorsports." The team is now F1’s "most competitive and shows no signs of slowing." Just Marketing International CEO Zak Brown said that Red Bull’s "meteoric rise and uncontested success should not be that surprising." Brown said, "Red Bull knows how to run a big, global operation very well." Red Bull Racing "is now worth $400M," up 67% since Forbes' last valuation project in '10, "easily the largest growth of any F1 team." Despite all of Red Bull Racing’s recent success, the bull-branded team "is still far from the top." Ferrari, the sport’s oldest and most-storied team, "holds the No. 1 spot" on the list with a valuation of $1.15B, "good for the 15th-most valuable sports team in the world." That value "is driven by $384M in revenue, generated mostly from sponsorship deals with companies like Shell, Santander and Marlboro." McLaren takes runner-up in Forbes' valuations, just as it has in the last two F1 seasons. Now worth $800M, McLaren is the only team on the list "to decline in value since '10, though the slide is barely perceptible (down less than 1% from $805M)." Red Bull ranks third and Mercedes takes a close fourth place "with an estimated value of $390M" (FORBES, 11/20).