All F1 teams respected the budget cap in 2023

The FIA indicated this Wednesday, through a press release, that the 10 F1 teams are compliant for 2023 with the financial regulations of the institution. This conclusion is the result of an examination conducted by the FIA Cost Cap Administration (CCA). This investigation was carried out on the various manufacturers involved during the 2023 season and on the power unit manufacturers who will produce engines in 2026, the date of the entry into force of the new regulations.

2023 represented the third year of implementation of the Financial Regulation for Formula 1 teams and the first year of implementation of the Financial Regulation for power unit manufacturers. It was put in place to limit excessive spending and promote competition. The spending cap that year was set at $140.4 million.

Alpine and Honda guilty of procedural violations

All teams therefore respect this limit which had been set in advance by the FIA but the statement indicates that Alpine and Honda have violated the examination procedure: « procedural violations have been identified for Alpine Racing SAS and Honda Racing Corporation (HRC). » Both manufacturers should pay a financial penalty.

The only case of exceeding the limit set by the FIA dates back to the 2021 season with Red Bull. The Austrian team exceeded the budget cap by about two million dollars (less than 2% above the cap of 145 million dollars). As this was less than 5%, the FIA deemed it minor and therefore did not penalize Red Bull sportingly, with whom Max Verstappen won his first title this year. They were fined about 7 million dollars and had their wind tunnel time reduced for the 2023 season (the report was published during the 2022 season).