The Reality of F1's Cost Cap — Its Impact on Smaller Teams and the Limits of FIA Enforcement

The cost cap figure does not encompass the full operating cost of a Formula 1 programme. Driver salaries for the top three earners at each team, marketing expenditure, facility depreciation, and portions of financing costs are excluded from the regulated perimeter, and the structural effect is that larger teams can maintain excluded cost categories at a substantially higher level than their smaller rivals. The question of whether Mercedes and Red Bull route expenditure through affiliated marketing and facility management companies to distribute regulated costs is a standing audit challenge for the FIA's Cost Cap Administration team.

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