Last Updated on May 7 2025, 9:18 pm
Formula One is in rude health and for the first time in the history of the sport, most of the teams are now making a significant profit. Since the acquisition of the commercial rights by Liberty Media in 2017, attendances have grown, TV viewers are now larger in number and the number of corporations wishing to partner with an F1 team sees a line stretching around the block.
For around a decade now, the FIA has sought to level the playing field for F1 competition in a number of ways. Prior to the launch of the V6 turbo hybrids the manufacturers had unlimited budgets along with unrestricted resources for dyno testing. This saw Mercedes invest an eye watering amount of around $1bn in research and development and predictably their efforts produced the best of the new hybrid power units by some margin.
In 2014 Mercedes’ drivers Hamilton and Rosberg were often more than half a second quicker in qualifying than the next best in the pack and in 2015 with Mercedes power, the under funded and poorly resourced Williams F1 team came a surprising third in the constructors’ championship.
F1 cost cap levels the playing field
Whilst there is no certainty that one manufacturer will not ace the new 2026 power unit regulations and deliver a similar kind of dominance as did Mercedes, it won’t be because they outspent the rest of the field. New limits on spending for the 2026 power units have been regulated by the FIA, together with limiting R&D resources such as the dyno testing.
A cost cap was finally agreed between the FIA and the teams for an annual spending limit and this came into force following COVID-19 for the 2021 season. The sum for 2025 is $140m and for this the F1 teams must design and build a car along with the in season running costs. The top three earner’s in each organisation are exempt from the cap, along with various other measures which cater for non-racing aspects of each racing outfit’s annual spend.
Whilst Verstappen has won each of the subsequent drivers’ championships since the introduction of the cost cap, the field is now much closer together. This is evident each weekend of Formula One racing and taking the most recent Grand Prix in Miami this was particularly pertinent for Lewis Hamilton.
The new Ferrari driver has been a long way off his team mate in qualifying. InBahrain it was around 6/10ths of a second and in Jeddah just a tenth closer. Yet come Grand Prix qualifying in Florida, Hamilton was unfortunate not to make the top ten shootout, as he failed to make it out of Q2. Leclerc finsihed the session in P8, but Hamilton half a tenth of a second slower was way down in P12 and did not progress. Such are the fine margins today seen week in and out and never in F1 history has the one lap competition been as close as it is.
FIA president says spending limit’s a “headache”
Much of this is credited to effect of the FIA financial regulations which has stopped the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes spending close to half a billion dollars a year, while Williams and the other lower order teams struggling to reach $100m spend. The top teams initially resisted the notion of financial restrictions, believing it would hamper their abilities to rise to the top of the pile.
Now the president of the FIA, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, is believed to be considering scrapping the much lauded cost cap in another maverick announcement from left field. Associated Press are reporting Ben Sulyaem believes the details of the cost cap is causing too many “headaches” as teams seek ways to circumvent the regulations spending over the enforceable limit.
“I’m looking at the cost cap and it’s just giving the FIA a headache,” report AP. “So what’s the point of it? I don’t see the point. I really don’t.” TJ13 were contacted by a whistle blower in 2022 who claimed Aston Martin moved on over a hundred people from its race team’s HQ, into a separate location under a new company name but to deliver exactly what they were doing when formally employed by AMR.
The following year, Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer warned this loophole was being exploited where development work was being carried out beyond the walls of the F1 teams factories.
Team boss reveals cost cap cheating
“But when you look at corporate structures, that is massive…,” he said. “If you only have 68, 70 people in the racing team and the rest of the 900 are outside of it and apportioning costs, that’s the kind of stuff we have to worry about.” Further the FIA had to regulate to prevent team’s failing to apportion costs correctly when the work was being done by an outside third party.
There’s a back story behind the latest outburst from the president of the FIA but exactly what it relates to is not presently clear. It is obvious it relates to the FIA’s role of policing the teams spending, but who and who and why will surely be revealed in the coming days.
Bizarrely, the owners of the F1 teams may not wish for the cost cap to be scrapped. Since its introduction each team’s values have rocketed with even the smallest like Haas F1 making profits, together with valuations starting around the $1bn mark. Another race to the bottom in spending would not be good place for F1 to return, but the teams are getting what they want from the current regulations – whether by hook or by crook.
McLaren’s lead this season is believed in part to be down to a clever wing which flexes with the effect of protecting the tyres in the high speed corners. But with the FIA stating it will re-regulate for this kind of engineering trickery come Barcelona, Red Bull refused to waste any budget on developing their own to challenge McLaren.
FIA presidential election in November
With no budget limit, Red Bull would have frantically delivered their version of the McLaren wing in 4-5 weeks, even were it to be banned just three races later. Ben Sulayem wasn’t involved in F1 prior to the cost cap and his outburst is clearly directed towards an attempt at evasion of the cost cap.
Following the trail of money through international groups of companies is not easy, yet the principles of the cost cap remain worthy. Gone are the days where several teams would start the season, having blown a significant amount of their expected budget, only to find out some expected source of funding did not come through, leaving them open to bankruptcy.
The suggestion that the F1 cost cap should be scrapped will presumably be high on the debating agenda come the next race in Imola. Even if teams are evading certain aspects of the cost cap, it still prevents hundreds of millions more being spent by those who have whilst those who haven’t fall by the wayside.
Ben Sulayem is up for re-election in November and today the news is breaking that Carlos Sainz Snr, a much loved racer and father of Williams driver Carlos, is considering throwing his hat into the ring.
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Renault have been a stalwart of Formula One since they joined the sport as works team outfit in 1977. In 1983 they began supplying engines to other competitors which is where the French company has had most of its F1 success.
They did win the constructors’ and drivers’ titles in 2005/2006 with Fernando Alonso, but their engine division has seen them power other constructor’s to ten further titles and nine drivers’ championships. Renault lie fourth in the all time wins for a power unit with 169 Grand Prix victories with a win rate of 22% from their 400 race starts.
Yet since their successful collaboration with Red Bull between 2010-2013, where they and Sebastian Vettel won four consecutive championships, the once French F1 superpower has been spluttering along with the odd cylinder missing here and there… READ MORE ON THIS STORY
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
