A change to the cost of the superlicence - the licence that all F1 drivers must have - will add at least £880K to the FIA's coffers this year.

Previously, the basic fee for a superlicence was 1,725 euros (approx £1,285) plus an additional 456 euros (£340) for each additional point scored the previous season.

However, in these times of cost cutting and budget-capping the FIA has opted to increase the basic cost of the licence to 10,000 euros (£7,451) plus a further 2,000 euros (£1,490) for each point scored the previous year.

Explaining the need for the increase, which means a rise of almost 500 percent for the basic licence, Max Mosley said: "We spend a fortune on safety and most of it is for the benefit of the drivers. A lot of the people who have otherwise been meeting the bill said 'Hang on a minute, these drivers are all earning megabucks and we are spending a fortune to try and make sure they are safe.' So hence the increase."

The Englishman, who was speaking at a media luncheon in London, revealed that following official confirmation of the increase a number of drivers had written to him pointing out that it was they and not their teams who paid for the superlicence, a situation that cut no ice.

"The thing is, if someone is earning 30 million or whatever some of them earn, it's not so bad," he said. "If you are down the back end, if you haven't got a point, it's 10,000 euros. To people earning their kind of money, it's not a drama. I'd settle for that, if someone said you can have 20 million if you pay 250,000 for a licence."

Not counting test drivers, the raise in licence fees will see the FIA rake in a further £880K, which will, according to Mosley; go "into the FIA coffers".

Pitpass reader Craig Boon has calculated that in 2008 (race) driver fees will work out as follows:

Raikkonen: £171,272
Massa: £147,443
Hamilton: £169,783
Kovalainen: £52,126
Heidfeld: £98,295
Kubica: £65,530
Alonso: £169,783
Piquet: £7,446
Rosberg: £37,233
Nakajima: £7,446
Coulthard: £28,297
Webber: £22,339
Trulli: £19,361
Glock: £7,446
Bourdais: £7,446
Vettel: £16,382
Button: £16,382
Barrichello: £7,446
Sato: £13,403
Davidson: £7,446
Fisichella: £38,722.
Sutil: £8,935