F1 drivers aren’t the only team members who earn large salaries. A Formula 1 race car costs about $15 million, so it’s reasonable to assume the mechanics and the F1 pit crew salary levels are exceptional. Watching a Formula 1 pit crew during a pit stop is a near-magical experience, not unlike watching professional athletes. Last year, when I had an up-close look at a pit crew in action, their athleticism and focus were apparent.
During the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix, I observed the Williams Racing team pit crew during practice sessions. They practiced changing tires and replacing front aerodynamic wings. Everything was timed and retimed. The team members seemed to enjoy their work, but they were also highly focused on their respective tasks.
Watching an F1 pit crew change four racing tires in less than 2.5 seconds is astonishing. And that’s just the average time (see below for the record pit stop times).
Pit crews get plenty of attention for their synchronized efficiency, which raises the question of how much Formula 1 pit crew and mechanics get paid. Estimates for pit crew and mechanic salaries range from $30,000 for a person who stands by with a fire extinguisher in hand to $1,000,000 for an F1 pit crew chief. Let’s dive into more F1 pit crew salary details.
Why Formula 1 pit crew and mechanics salaries matter
It’s only appropriate that salaries for F1 pit crew and mechanics reflect the massive money engine that drives F1 racing. The Formula One Group, a division of Liberty Media, reported 2023 revenues of $3.222 billion. That figure is in the public record because Liberty Media is a public corporation. Other monetary figures associated with F1 are estimates quoted by supposedly knowledgeable insiders. It’s also possible that some figures are wild guesses that may or may not be based on hopes and dreams.
F1 pit crew and mechanics estimated salaries
The following oft-reported estimates of F1 pit crew salaries were published in 2022 on Tuko.co.ke, a Kenyan news website with no source reference. No specific source is mentioned in the original article. The salaries below could still be reasonable estimates, although they were from the F1 2021 season. In addition to the salary, race payment, and race-winning bonuses listed below, crew members would also likely receive bonuses at the end of the season, depending on the team’s overall performance.
| Pit crew member | Per race payment | Annual salary (est.) | Race winning bonus (est.) |
| Crew Chief | $10,000 | $1 Million | $5,000 |
| Tire Changers | $5,000 | $350,000 | $2,500 |
| Tire Carriers | $3,500 | $270,000 | $2,500 |
| Jack Men | $3,000 | $150,000 | $500 |
| Wing Men | $3,000 | $150,000 | $500 |
| Stabilizers | $2,500 | $90,000 | $250 |
| Starter | $750 | $40,000 | $250 |
| Fire Extinguisher Man | $500 | $30,000 | $250 |
How to become an F1 pit crew member
F1 pit crew members are valued members of a Formula 1 racing team comprising hundreds of full-time employees who are highly qualified for their roles. They are also motorsports enthusiasts working at the pinnacle of auto racing. The FIA F1 Sporting rules and regulations regulate the number of mechanics and pit crew personnel in the garage during competitions.
If you aspire to become an F1 pit crew member, you should get the training and experience necessary to compete with the best in the sport. Being in excellent physical condition is also essential because the crews often work long hours under stressful conditions. If you have the training and experience and are in great shape, the best path is networking to make connections as usual in any job or career search.
You will also need to be a good team player and willing to step in wherever you’re needed. When Mercedes AMG Chief Mechanic Matt Dean was interviewed last year about getting the pit crew ready for a season, he stressed teamwork.
“The first pit stop practice of the year is in the first week of January. We use this as a chance to let the team try out different roles within the stop,” Dean said. “We have three crews — Race 1, 2, and 3 — and not everyone does every race, so having team members able to step in and fulfill multiple roles is so important and gives everyone a lot of confidence.”
An average pit stop is 2.5 seconds; what’s the record?
In 2019, Red Bull set the record for the fastest pit stop in just 1.82 seconds at the Brazilian Grand Prix. That record held for four years but fell in the 2023 season when McLaren Racing took just 1.80 seconds for a pit stop with Lando Norris’s race car in the Qatar Grand Prix. The fastest pit stop of the 2024 F1 schedule was during the Mexico City Grand Prix on October 27, when McLaren’s pit crew took just 1.90 seconds with Oscar Piastri’s racecar.
Red Bull still holds another F1 pit stop world record, however. In December 2023, the Red Bull pit crew completed a pit stop in 2.84 seconds in total darkness in a competition called the Pitch Black Pit Stop at the F1 headquarters in England.
