FIA approves 2027 regulations to prevent F1 cost cap bypass
The FIA World Motor Sport Council has introduced new 2027 regulations requiring physical and IT segregation for teams like Red Bull and Mercedes. These rules target non-F1 divisions to prevent personnel and information from being used to circumvent spending limits.
Physical barriers and factory segregation
The FIA World Motor Sport Council approved new regulations for 2027 to prevent Formula 1 teams from using non-F1 staff to bypass spending limits. These measures target divisions such as Red Bull Advanced Technologies, Mercedes Applied Science, Aston Martin Performance Technologies, and Ferrari’s yacht production. I find the physical segregation requirements to be the most effective part of this crackdown. Teams must divide factories into restricted areas with electronic access and keep access logs for three years for FIA inspection. While staff can use canteens or parking, they cannot perform core work in these common spaces. In "Restricted Shared Areas" like wind tunnels, simulators, or dynos, personnel from F1 and non-F1 groups cannot occupy the space at the same time. This prevents the information crossover that the FIA suspects occurs when teams use special projects divisions to feed knowledge into racing operations without it counting within their cost cap allowance. The FIA previously ruled that any personnel who contributed anything to the F1 team must have their full wages allocated within the cost cap. This policy follows the history of McLaren having an Applied Science division before it was sold to a private investment group.
Personnel movement and IT lockdowns
Strict IT segregation ensures that neither side has access to the other side’s systems or messaging platforms. I consider the new rules regarding personnel movement to be particularly draconian because they impose heavy restrictions on how staff transition between roles. Any non-F1 personnel moving to an F1 team must undergo a three-month cooling off period without performing any F1 or non-F1 activities or accessing restricted IT systems. After joining the F1 side, their contract must require 12 months of exclusive F1-related work. When personnel move from an F1 team to take a special projects role, they must use a new email address that is in play at the end of the working day prior to them moving. These employees must also commit to doing only non-F1 work for 12 months, and their salary counts toward the cost cap for that year. These staff movements aim to stop the shuffling of employees to maximize knowledge while keeping salaries outside the cost cap.
| Personnel Rule | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Non-F1 to F1 transfer | 3-month cooling off period |
| F1 to non-F1 transfer | 12-month non-F1 work commitment |
| F1 to non-F1 salary | Counts toward cost cap |
| Access logs | 3 years of electronic records |
The FIA rules state that knowledge can pass from an F1 team to a non-F1 side in limited circumstances, but information is not allowed to flow the other way under any circumstances. The Race reports that several teams resisted these regulations, but the FIA pushed them through to stop teams from using redeployment tricks, external drives, or contractual arrangements to circumvent the cap. Because the scope of the regulations is so wide, some squads must change how they operate to fully comply with these demands.
