Bizarre F1 rort banned as teams suspected of cheating $306m cap
Updated . First published at
F1 staff have been banned from working in canteens and other shared office spaces in a bid by the sport’s governing body to clamp down on information sharing that circumvents cost-cap restrictions.
The FIA – the world motorsport governing body – has long suspected teams had been using a cheeky but simple method to game the sport’s cost cap, which was introduced to try and curb the massive spending of the big teams.
F1 rulemakes are cracking down on information sharing from outside the sport’s cost cap. AP Photo/Manu Fernandez
For the 2026 season, car development, testing, research costs, and staff salaries – except for the two drivers and three highest-paid team executives – must not exceed $306 million (US $215 million).
But several teams including Red Bull, Mercedes, Aston Martin and Ferrari have so-called ‘special interest’ programs outside F1. Under these programs, teams have invested in road cars, cycling and high-speed sailboats.
McLaren only recently sold its special projects division to a third party, but not before investing in its own line of golf equipment.
While it might not be immediately obvious, aspects of all the special projects will have relevance to the F1 team. Crucially, these programs, and the staff employed on them, do not fall under the cost cap.
The FIA has for years suspected teams have been using the special interest projects to research concepts and then share that knowledge with the F1 team to get around the cost cap.
While nothing had ever been proven, the FIA has already issued a number of technical directives in an attempt to crack down on the practice.
It had suspected teams got around those directives by having staff work in canteens, break rooms and other common areas where they can freely talk without leaving behind a paper trail of ideas.
But in its most comprehensive attempt yet, a new 12-page section has been added to F1’s operations regulations for next year.
Under the new rules, staff will be banned from carrying out their “core duties” in common areas. Teams will also be required to dedicate areas of the building to each division, and forbid staff employed in one from entering the other.
F1 and non-F1 staff must also be put on separate IT systems with no integration between the two.
Teams will be required to keep full access logs for digital documents, software and building FOBs for three years so they can be audited.
Areas of the factories that are relevant to both divisions, including wind tunnels, simulators or dynos can be designated 'shared areas', but cannot be occupied by staff from both groups at the same time, and there can be no information crossover.
Teams will be allowed to share knowledge from the F1 team to the special interest division in some circumstances, but not the other way.
According to The Race, the strictness of the regulations was unsurprisingly met with resistance from several teams, but the FIA pushed them through anyway.
The cost cap was introduced in 2021 to rein in spending by the big teams, which had historically worked on a virtually unlimited budget. Teams caught breaching the cost cap can, in theory, face disqualification from either championship or even face a ban from the sport.
The 2026 F1 season continues with the United States Grand Prix this weekend.
