TIMELINE: How the FIA Cost Cap story unfolded as Red Bull and Aston Martin enter Agreements over breaches
Now that the FIA, Red Bull and Aston Martin have entered agreements over their respective breaches of the Financial Regulations, it’s worth a reminder of how the Cost Cap breaches unfolded – and how this all began…
October 31, 2019
The FIA Cost Cap regulations are announced as part of the provisional 2021 rules. The 2021 Technical Regulations were delayed to 2022 due to the global pandemic, but the Financial Regulations would remain in place. Excluding marketing costs, race driver fees and costs of the teams’ three highest-paid personnel, the cap was set at $175 million for the 2021 season – and then on May 27, 2020, it was reduced to $147.4m.
March 31, 2022
This is the “Full Year Reporting Deadline”, or the second deadline, for all 10 teams to submit their financial statements comprising the period from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021 – their annual spend. The FIA Financial Regulations set out how teams must submit their respective statements, and what they must include.
May 31, 2022
Williams agree to remediate their procedural breach of the Financial Regulations via an “Accepted Breach Agreement” (ABA). The team voluntarily disclosed their breach of the regulations – they failed to submit annual reports by the deadline of March 31, 2022 – and became the first team to be fined for a breach, to the tune of $25,000.
October 10, 2022
Reports of a Cost Cap breach began to stir in Singapore and, one day after Max Verstappen wins the 2022 Formula 1 drivers’ championship in Japan, the FIA announce that two more teams have breached the 2021 Financial Regulations. Aston Martin were found to be in procedural breach while Red Bull were found to be in procedural breach and having committed a “minor financial overspend”, which is less than 5% of the Cost Cap. Further information and courses of action were set to be announced at the 2022 United States Grand Prix.
October 23, 2022
Talks between the FIA and Red Bull over the Cost Cap breach are put on hold due to the passing of Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz.
October 28, 2022
The FIA announce that Red Bull have entered an ABA with the Cost Cap Administration. The constructors’ champions must pay $7million to the FIA within 30 days of the date of execution of the ABA, and they also receive a 10% reduction in allocated Restricted Wind tunnel Testing and Restricted CFD limits.
The FIA then announce that Aston Martin have been fined $450,000 for a procedural breach of the Cost Cap.
Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner held a lengthy press conference before FP1 on Friday, explaining numerous facets of his team’s breach of the financial regulations. He called the penalties “draconian” and concluded his statement with the words: “Now is the time to put it to bed and move on.”
The 2022 FIA Cost Cap stands at $142.4m and is set at $135m from 2023 to 2025 – with room for a rise in line with inflation.
