The FIA and non-F1 projects: how the cost cap's back door is being closed

The Formula 1 cost cap only works if it counts everything a team spends to run its cars. That is why the FIA watches a classic back door: a team develops technology in a division outside F1, such as a road-car project or another category, and later uses it on its car without that work going through the cap.

This page gathers what is documented in linked sources: directive TD45, the 2026 Financial Regulations and how the FIA checks that every euro is where it should be.

What was the trick?

Several teams have technical divisions working for customers outside F1. That activity can sit outside the cap if it is genuinely independent. The risk, as explained in 2023, was in the handover: if intellectual property created outside passes to the F1 team without being counted, the team benefits from a development it has not paid for inside the cap.

What directive TD45 says

The FIA made clear to teams that they cannot transfer intellectual property from projects outside F1 without that work falling under the cost cap. F1 knowledge can still flow freely towards the technical divisions. The directive applied immediately and was backdated to 1 January 2023.

Mercedes' Toto Wolff explained at the time that his team is a single entity doing the F1 work and part of the non-F1 work, with no subsidiaries or cross-shareholdings.

What the 2026 regulations say

The cap rises to $215 million in 2026, a figure the FIA justifies by inflation since 2021 and by including costs that used to sit outside. Teams must include 100 % of the pay of every employee who spends time on F1, even if they combine it with other projects.

In issue 06 of the Financial Regulations (28 April 2026), the part on non-F1 activities lets a team exclude a share of shared costs only if it proves the split to the cost cap administration, and requires them to be brought back if the activity stops being non-F1 under TD45. The document itself says the TD45 reference will be updated once the official 2026 document exists.

How the FIA polices it

After publishing TD45, the FIA began interviewing staff declared outside the cap to check that they do not actually work for the F1 team, and reviewing teams' satellite operations. The press then named Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari and Aston Martin among teams with outside divisions; none was accused of breaking the rules.

In September 2023 the FIA certified that all 10 teams met the 2022 cap after an extensive review of non-F1 activities.

What is still to be confirmed

It is being said that the FIA added around twelve pages to the rules, with articles such as F6 and D2, to close this route. Formuradar has not found an official document or a dated source confirming it, so we do not take it as given. When the FIA publishes the text or a reference outlet details it, we will update this page with the page count, the articles and the date it takes effect.