All 10 Formula 1 teams successfully obliged with the championship cost cap during the 2024 season with only Aston Martin found to be in a “procedural breach”, the FIA has confirmed.
F1 introduced a cost cap in 2021 to try and create a more level playing field between the top and bottom teams, as frontrunning outfits had significantly larger budgets than backmarkers.
The cap started at $145million and has since been reduced to $135m for 2025. A seven-month investigation has led to the FIA confirming today (28 October) which teams met the requirements for last season.
It stated that every team gave its full support in providing the required information and “acted at all times in a spirit of good faith and co-operation throughout the process”.
Heading into last weekend’s Mexico Grand Prix, it was already known that Aston Martin had committed a procedural breach and it was though that another team had potentially done the same.
But the Silverstone-based squad has since been confirmed as the only team to have done so, while still meeting the cost cap level.
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing
Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images
The FIA said that it “was of a very minor nature, originated by unpredictable circumstances outside the control of the F1 team. AMR and FIA have entered an ABA (Accepted Breach Agreement) on 29 September 2025 to resolve the matter.”
The statement from the F1 governing body added: “No financial penalties were levied to AMR due to these exceptional and unpredictable circumstances. The Cost Cap Administration confirm that there is no accusation or evidence that AMR has sought or obtained any undue advantage as a result of the breach.”
An ABA, as per Article 6.28 of F1’s financial regulations, is a mechanism whereby the FIA suggests a penalty which is then accepted by the team in question. The statement confirmed that Aston Martin had accepted the offer.
Its breach comes down to the fact that teams are required to hand over documentation to show they have complied with the cost cap by 31 March the following year.
Autosport understands that Aston Martin had prepared its documentation in time, but its auditor was unable to provide a crucial signature due to extenuating circumstances beyond its control, leading to the March deadline being missed.
The last parties to commit a procedural breach were Renault and Honda in 2023, which both settled for an ABA as part of the power unit cost cap filings. But for 2024, all of F1’s power unit suppliers – Mercedes, Ferrari, Honda, Renault and Audi – were found to be in compliance.
There has only been one previous occasion in which an F1 team has failed to meet the cost cap altogether and that was Red Bull in 2021, as it overspent by 5%. Red Bull was therefore fined $7m and received a 10% reduction in wind tunnel and CFD testing.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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