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F1’s governing body completed its financial review of each team and found no violations
All ten Formula 1 teams received a good bit of news from the sport’s governing body on Tuesday.
The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the governing body for motorsport including F1, announced the completion of an extensive review of all ten teams under the sport’s financial regulations, or the “Cost Cap.” Unlike last year when three teams — Red Bull, Aston Martin, and Williams — were found to have breached the regulations to various degrees, FIA found no violations for the 2022 season.
“The FIA confirms that its Cost Cap Administration has now completed the review of the Reporting Documentation submitted by each Competitor that participated in the 2022 FIA Formula One World Championship in respect of the 2022 Full Year Reporting Period ending on 31 December 2022,” said the FIA in a statement.
“The FIA Cost Cap Administration has issued certificates of compliance to all of the ten Competitors.”
The governing body also indicated they paid special attention to the non-F1 activities of the teams. Reporting earlier this season outlined that the FIA was concerned teams were gaining information from their non-F1 activities and applying it to their F1 departments, which would be a violation of the cost cap.
According to the statement from the FIA, an “extensive check” of the non-F1 spending of each team was conducted, and no violations were found.
“The review has been an intensive and thorough process, beginning with a detailed analysis of the documentation submitted by the competitors. Additionally, there has been an extensive check of any non-F1 activities undertaken by the teams, which comprised multiple on-site visits to team facilities and careful auditing procedures to assess compliance with the Financial Regulations,” said the statement. “The FIA Cost Cap Administration notes that all Competitors acted at all times in a spirit of good faith and cooperation throughout the process.”
The cost cap was introduced to the world championship in 2021, when teams’ spending was limited to $145 million, with some exceptions and allowances.
The cap was reduced to $140 million for the 2022 season and was cut to $135 million for the 2023 campaign. It will remain at that level for the 2024 season.
Last year Williams did not meet the submission deadline, which resulted in a $25,000 fine.
As for Aston Martin and Red Bull, those two teams committed bigger violations under the cost cap regulations. Aston Martin was found to have committed a procedural breach during the 2021 season, incorrectly excluding and/or adjusting costs. This was deemed a procedural violation, and the team was hit with a $450,000 fine. More importantly, the team was still under the cost cap.
As for Red Bull, they were found to have exceeded the cost cap by $2.3 million, due to how some expenses were incorrectly categorized. This was deemed a “minor financial overspend,” under the cost cap regulation, a category where the overspending is less than 5% of the cost cap. The team was hit with a $7 million fine and saw their testing time cut by 10%.
