Today the FIA announced that their audit of the 2022 budget was completed and that all 10 teams were confirmed to be under the cost cap.
Last year’s inaugural budget cap report brought plenty of drama as three teams were found to be in breach – Williams and Aston Martin for procedural breaches resulting in fines, while Red Bull had both a procedural breach and a minor overspend which led to a multi-million dollar fine and a reduction in wind tunnel time available to the team.
Teams have to submit their accounts by March and rumours were rife as the summer break approached that there would once again be multiple teams failing to stay below the budget cap. The FIA had to refute the claims, saying that the rumours were “completely unfounded”, and that the auditing was still ongoing so no teams had been informed of their certification status yet.
Today though the results were announced with all team certified as operating within the constraints of the budget cap. In their statement the FIA said: “The review has been an intensive and thorough process, beginning with a detailed analysis of the documentation submitted by the competitors.
“Additionally, there has been an extensive check of any non-F1 activities undertaken by the teams, which comprised multiple on-site visits to team facilities and careful auditing procedures to assess compliance with the Financial Regulations. The FIA Cost Cap Administration notes that all Competitors acted at all times in a spirit of good faith and cooperation throughout the process.
“The FIA also notes that the Financial Regulations are essential to the long-term financial stability of the sport, and that they will continue to be developed and refined based on the findings of each review process both in terms of the regulations themselves, which are written and approved under the FIA Formula 1 governance process, and the way in which they are enforced and policed. The FIA has made and will continue to make significant investments in this department for the collective benefit of the sport.”
