I used to think that you only got money from FOM when you got points, but this must have changed or was a misconception. It would be interesting to know how they split the money. Everything Bernie does is secret.BBC wrote:Virgin Racing owner Sir Richard Branson has set his sights on a top-10 finish - worth £17m - for his team in the 2010 world championship.
Virgin are battling for 10th place with Lotus and Hispania Racing, the other two new teams in Formula 1 this season.
"The more times we can get the two cars finishing then that would be great," said Branson. "If we can get a point or two, then even better."
Teams finishing in the bottom two of the table will not get the windfall.
After eight races this season, Virgin are holding the wooden spoon in the points table.
Points are scored down to 10th place in each race, and neither Virgin, Lotus nor Hispania Racing have achieved such a result this season.
In the event of a tie, a team's best result - and the number of times that result has been achieved - takes precedence.
Lotus, therefore, hold 10th place due to Heikki Kovalainen's 13th position in the Australian Grand Prix, while Hispania Racing are 11th by the virtue of Karun Chandhok's two 14th places in Australia and Monaco, and Virgin are bottom thanks to Lucas di Grassi's single 14th in Malaysia.
The three teams are therefore extremely close, and a 12th-place finish for either Virgin driver - di Grassi or Timo Glock - would vault the team into the top 10.
There is a strong chance that the destiny of the money for 10th place could rest on one of the teams picking up an unexpectedly good finish in a race with a high number of retirements.
When informed of the potential prize money on offer by team chief executive officer Graeme Lowdon, Sir Richard Branson said: "There's some money? You never told me that. It does make a difference.
"Whereas I said I wouldn't mind about 10th place, I've suddenly taken a big interest."
Lowdon added: "It [the prize-money formula] is an innovative structure, and if you do well on the track then you get very well rewarded."
So he can screw them all. A bit like Sauron and the rings really.