The FIA has sought to ease Formula 1 staff concerns by confirming maternity leave and employee entertainment will remain outside of a revised cost-cap system in 2026.
Introduced in 2021, the cost-cap sought to level the playing field in F1 by keeping all 10 teams to a spending limit.
The cap, now in its fourth season, is approximately $135 million and the plan is to up that figure to $220 million in 2026 with more items included within the cost-cap framework.
After some resistance from the teams, the FIA has reverted the decision to include the likes of maternity leave and staff activities in the cap.
“During the discussion with teams, a range of exclusions, including maternity/paternity leave and entertainment, were considered for being included in the perimeter of the cost cap,” explained FIA Head of Single Seater Financial Regulations Federico Lodi (via Autosport).
“But during the last F1 Commission meeting, it was unanimously agreed that these costs should remain excluded from the perimeter of the cost cap.”
The plan to increase the cost-cap is to ensure the regulation is simplified, with more parameters included.
Matters of inflation and the growth of the F1 calendar are also factors at play, but as Red Bull Team Principal pointed out last Friday, staff mustn’t “bear the brunt” of the cost-cap changes.
“I think it’s a matter of striking a balance,” Horner said.
“I think there’s been a huge amount of learning through the cost cap. And I think that what I think is the most important thing for 2026 is that the employees don’t bear the brunt of those changes.
“For example, does a Christmas party actually make your car go faster? Now, if that is to be included in the cap, of course, every technical director is going to want a front wing as opposed to a Christmas party, which is a bit tight.
“And so it’s finding that balance. I’m not saying that our technical director doesn’t like Christmas parties, but he likes front wings.
“So it’s finding that kind of balance where the employees aren’t the ones that bear the brunt of this.”
With Lodi’s confirmation, Pierre Wache can now enjoy front wings and Christmas parties and whilst the bulk of staff concerns have been mitigated, Sauber Team Representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi raised an intriguing point on Friday.
Bravi eluded to the increased cost of living in Switzerland where Sauber is based and hopes the new cost-cap can strike a balance that doesn’t negatively effect his team.
“I think for teams like ourselves it will be important to introduce an element that can, I would say, equalise differences in terms of cost of life,” he said.
“I think that we should put all the teams at the same level, at least as a starting point, and so the difference will be the ability of the people and the quality of the work not other factors that can negatively affect this starting point.”
