The FIA is taking action against teams that undermine the cost cap – in future, a Formula 1 project must be completely separate from all other projects run by the same company
The World Motor Sport Council has approved a new regulation designed to completely prohibit links between team staff based within the Formula 1 circuit and personnel working on other projects outside the premier class.
The FIA has likely intervened because there have been cases where corporate programmes outside Formula 1 were used to circumvent the budget cap by utilising staff and structures officially intended for other activities.
In the interests of consistent cost control, this is an understandable decision aimed at preventing imbalances between teams that can expand their corporate reach and those that have no programmes other than Formula 1.
However, the intervention approved on Monday radically alters the way Formula 1 teams operate, as if many of them were not an integral part of automotive giants and had to exist completely independently of their parent companies.
In the revised version of the operational section of the 2027 Formula 1 regulations, eleven pages have been added to Section F6, governing five new articles. Their title speaks volumes: ‘Physical and IT separation between Formula 1 and non-Formula 1 activities’.
Formula 1 departments will be completely isolated
The aim is clear: to close a grey area that allowed for a (already limited) transfer of know-how between the Formula 1 team and the brand’s other business divisions – whilst concealing costs in other programmes (WEC, Formula E and even sailing).
The idea makes sense: if Formula 1 wants to identify staff who were officially hired for other projects but are then deployed to bolster the team working in the premier class.
Previously, it was possible to split a specific skill set between two different activities: It was specified which part of an engineer’s role was dedicated to Formula 1 and which to the main programme, and only the proportion attributable to work for the premier class was counted towards the budget cap.
It has now been decided to go significantly further and create a genuine separation between Formula 1 and all other company activities, particularly as significant barriers are also being put in place regarding the use of technological assets (simulators, wind tunnels, test benches, data centres) or IT systems.
The FIA has thus introduced a strict demarcation: staff who do not belong to the Formula 1 division are not permitted to enter the Formula 1 factory. Conversely, staff working there are no longer permitted to visit colleagues from other divisions.
The regulation is rather curious, as it even defines potential communal areas (entrances, stairwells, canteens, wellness areas, storerooms, car parks and gardens) – though only on the condition that these do not become workspaces.
Will it ultimately be the other projects that suffer most?
It has also been stipulated that staff may not move directly from Formula 1 to another department, as a new contract covering the new duties must be drawn up.
The company ID card is deactivated, as are the email accounts. This means there is no longer any visibility within the Formula 1 environment. And anyone leaving the team may only return after a year at the earliest.
Anyone working in non-Formula 1 programmes must, in addition to signing a new contract, complete a three-month cooling-off period and may not be involved in any company activities. So is the employee dismissed and then rehired?
The Formula 1 team is thus effectively condemned to being a ‘fortress’ with a drawbridge within the brand’s premises. It would be interesting to find out which teams supported this new isolation of the Formula 1 team.
It is legitimate to want to increase control over the personnel actually working within the team without exceeding the budget cap. However, the FIA is now demanding changes to the operational structure and planning of an entire organisation.
Whereas it was previously possible to deploy a highly competent specialist across two projects, the person in charge of the non-Formula 1 programme must now seek external staff – leading to an inevitable overall increase in staffing levels and costs.
The same applies to organisational structures: it will not be the ‘Formula 1 citadel’ that has to make sacrifices, but rather the peripheral projects that will have to forego synergies and meaningful collaboration.