F1 Super Licence Points, Explained
Team radio never mentions it, but every driver on the grid had to clear a paperwork hurdle before they ever got a car: the FIA Super Licence. It's the single gate between junior racing and Formula 1, and it runs on a points system that has nothing to do with the championship points a driver later fights for on Sundays — a mix-up that trips up even longtime fans when a driver's name and the word "points" show up in the same headline twice a year for two totally different reasons.
F1 Super Licence by the Numbers
- 40: the minimum Super Licence points required to be eligible for an F1 seat.
- 18: the standard minimum age, with a 17-year-old exception at the FIA's sole discretion since 2024.
- 3 years: the eligibility window points must be earned in (or 2 years plus the current season).
- 40/30/20: the Formula 2 points for 1st/2nd/3rd — an F2 champion qualifies on points alone.
- 300km: the on-track running a returning driver must complete within 180 days to requalify.
- €11,842 + €2,392/point: the 2026 Super Licence fee formula — base charge plus a per-championship-point surcharge from the previous season.
- €1,018,874+: Lando Norris and Max Verstappen's 2026 fee bills, the two highest on the grid after their 2025 title fight.
What Is an F1 Super Licence?
A Super Licence is the FIA's top-tier competition licence, and it's a legal requirement to start an F1 race — no exceptions, no reserve-driver loopholes. It exists to guarantee that anyone getting into a 1,000-horsepower car at 350 km/h has already proven themselves against a serious field, and it's earned through a combination of a points threshold, an age minimum, a car-control test, and a knowledge exam on the FIA's sporting regulations. The points side is what trips people up, mostly because F1 has a second, completely unrelated points system — the championship standings — that shares the same word.
How Super Licence Points Are Earned
Points come from finishing position in FIA-approved single-seater and sports car series, with the series closest to F1 in competitiveness handing out the most. A driver needs 40 points minimum, and — critically — they don't need to come from one series or one season; results from up to three consecutive years can be combined.
| Championship | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| FIA Formula 2 | 40 | 40 | 40 |
| IndyCar Series | 40 | 30 | 20 |
| FIA Formula 3 | 30 | 25 | 20 |
| FIA Formula E | 30 | 25 | 20 |
| Japanese Super Formula | 30 | 25 | 20 |
| FIA WEC (Hypercar) | 30 | 24 | 20 |
Notice that Formula 2 awards the full 40 points to any finisher in the top 3, not just the champion — a quirk that makes F2 by far the most reliable single-season route into F1. Below that top table, smaller regional and feeder series (Formula Regional, various national F4 championships) contribute smaller point totals that drivers typically stack across two or three seasons rather than banking in one go.
The Age Rule — and the Antonelli Exception
The standard minimum age for a Super Licence is 18 at the start of a driver's first F1 competition. That rule held firm for years until 2024, when the FIA amended Appendix L of the International Sporting Code to allow a 17-year-old exception "at the sole discretion of the FIA" for a driver "judged to have recently and consistently demonstrated outstanding ability and maturity in single-seater formula car competition." The change was made specifically after Williams and Mercedes lobbied the FIA on behalf of Kimi Antonelli, whose 18th birthday fell weeks after the 2025 season would have needed to start — the amendment (alongside dropping the old requirement to hold a road driving licence) cleared his path to a full-time Mercedes seat.
Bonus Points and the FP1 Route
Beyond raw championship finishes, drivers can top up their point total in a few specific ways: +2 points for completing an entire championship season without accumulating any penalty points, +3 points for winning the FIA Formula Regional World Cup, and up to +10 points for running in official Free Practice 1 sessions (1 point per event). Logan Sargeant's 2023 Super Licence application is the textbook example — his Formula 2 results didn't reach 40 on their own, so FP1 outings for Williams supplied the rest of what he needed to reach the threshold exactly.
It's Not the Same as the Super Licence Fee
Every year, headlines about F1 drivers and "Super Licence" money are about something entirely different from the 40-point eligibility threshold above. Once a driver already holds a Super Licence, renewing it each season costs an annual fee, and since 2016 that fee has been calculated from a base charge plus a surcharge for every championship point the driver scored the previous year — the drivers' championship points, not the junior-series eligibility points. For 2026, per Formula1.com's published schedule and Kym Illman's fee breakdown, the formula is a roughly €11,842 base plus about €2,392 per point scored in 2025.
| Driver | 2025 points | 2026 Super Licence fee |
|---|---|---|
| Lando Norris | 423 | ~€1,020,000+ (highest on the grid) |
| Max Verstappen | 421 | €1,018,874 |
| Oscar Piastri | ~418 | €999,562 |
| George Russell | ~277 | €774,890 |
| Charles Leclerc | ~242 | €590,706 |
| Lewis Hamilton | ~156 | €384,994 |
| Fernando Alonso | ~56 | €145,794 |
Teams cover the fee for their drivers in almost every case, and the payments sit outside F1's budget cap entirely — the same cap that governs everything else a team spends on the car. So while the eligibility points open the door to F1 in the first place, the fee points are really a tax on success once a driver is already through it — the better a season goes, the more the following year's licence costs.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many points do you need for an F1 Super Licence?
A driver needs at least 40 Super Licence points, earned in FIA-sanctioned single-seater or approved series within the three years before applying (or two years plus the year of submission). Winning the FIA Formula 2 Championship or the IndyCar Series awards the full 40 points on its own, which is enough to qualify without any other results.
How old do you have to be for an F1 Super Licence?
The standard minimum age is 18 at the start of a driver's first F1 event. Since a 2024 rule change, the FIA can grant a Super Licence at 17 "at its sole discretion" to a driver judged to have shown outstanding ability and maturity — the amendment was made specifically to clear Kimi Antonelli's path to a 2025 Mercedes seat.
Is the Super Licence fee based on the same points?
No — that's a common mix-up. Eligibility points (the 40-point minimum) only apply to a driver's first Super Licence application. Every driver already on the grid pays an annual renewal fee instead, calculated from a base charge plus an amount per F1 championship point scored the previous season, so title winners pay the most.
Can a driver get a Super Licence without racing in Formula 2?
Yes. Formula 2 offers the most direct route since a top-3 finish alone can supply all 40 points, but IndyCar's champion also earns the full 40, and points from Formula 3, Formula E, Super Formula, WEC Hypercar and other approved series can be combined across multiple seasons to reach the 40-point threshold.
The Bottom Line
The 40-point Super Licence threshold is F1's actual entry exam — a junior driver has to prove themselves across real racing results, not just buy a seat, before the FIA will let them near a Formula 1 car. That system runs completely independently of the Super Licence fee that already-graded drivers pay every year, which is really just a surcharge on how well their previous season's championship points went — Lando Norris's title run is exactly why his 2026 bill tops the grid. Both numbers sit apart from what it costs a driver to actually get paid for driving in the first place; our how much F1 drivers make breakdown covers that side of the ledger. Head to the team radio archive to hear the drivers who cleared every one of these hurdles at work.