" If you think you can survive on prize money , you are crazy. Here is a nice example:
The company I work for has some minor sponsorship in the Toyota F1 car, like $2.5 million. The Toyota budget is $546 million per year to manufacture and run the two cars. F1 prize money is about $1 million per race plus TV money based upon points scored for the season. So maybe Toyota collects $100 million per year from F1 and some amount from the other sponsors on the car, but they are spending at least $350 million per year of their own money."
From an other forum.