Aston Martin confirmed as sole team in cost cap breach despite paddock rumours
Aston Martin F1 team logo
Aston Martin has been revealed as the team to have committed a “very minor” procedural breach of the Formula 1 cost cap, following the latest FIA audit for the F1 2024 season.
There were, however, rumours prior to the Mexico City Grand Prix that another team had committed a significant breach, but the FIA announced it was only Aston Martin – and a minor one at that.
Aston Martin falls foul of Formula 1 cost cap
PlanetF1.com first broke the news that Aston Martin had made a minor procedural error, which the FIA confirmed on Tuesday, as the results of its latest cost cap review were published.
Aston Martin will not face any financial sanctions for a procedural breach which the FIA confirmed was “very minor in nature”.
A cost cap has been in effect since 2021, placing a limit on how much money the teams can spend per season. Previously, there were no restrictions, creating an eye-watering gulf between the grid’s highest and lowest spenders. The FIA looked to converge the spending power of F1 teams via the cost cap, and bring the teams closer together in terms of performance.
The F1 2024 cap came in at $165 million, and while the FIA has given all teams the green light financially, Aston Martin committed a “very minor” procedural breach.
‘The Cost Cap Administration offered to AMR [Aston Martin Racing] an Accepted Breach Agreement (“ABA”) to resolve the matter. The offer was accepted by AMR,’ the FIA notes.
It is added that ‘no financial penalties were levied to AMR’ due to ‘exceptional and unpredictable circumstances’ surrounding the nature of their procedural breach. PlanetF1.com understands that circumstance to be a missing auditor signature, because they were in hospital on the deadline day.
More on the F1 cost cap
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The FIA notes that Aston Martin cooperated fully and acted in good faith throughout the review process, and are satisfied that Aston Martin did not attempt to or obtain any undue advantage via their procedural breach.
It’s not the first breach with Red Bull Racing having committed the most significant in 2021 as it actually exceeded the cap.
Jonathan Wheatley, now team principal of Sauber, served as Red Bull’s sporting director at the time of their 2021 cost cap overspend, which triggered a $7m fine, plus a 10 per cent reduction of its wind tunnel and CFD time.
Speaking at the Mexico City Grand Prix ahead of the announcement of Aston Martin’s 2024 season procedural breach, Wheatley had already stressed that it would not have been an intentional act, as talk of a breach to be announced swirled.
“I think the delay in announcing [the result of the FIA audit] made it very clear to all of us that there were some teams in trouble, or a team in trouble,” he said during the team principals press conference. “I can speak from experience, it’s a very, very difficult thing to balance.
“You want to be competitive. You want to spend every last dollar up against your cost cap limit, of course you do. That’s what we’re in the business of doing, why we’re in racing, we’re in a competitive sport.
“I think the first thing I would say is that nobody’s doing it intentionally. These things happen.
“Sometimes things can just come out of control, a little bit like a car crash, something like that, and an unexpected cost late on.
“I don’t want to speculate on the cause of it. I think we now understand why we were late in getting the publication from the FIA.”
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