Miami Gardens, Florida, USA (AP) – The president of the governing body of Formula 1 is studying the cost limit under which the equipment operates and is considering eliminating it because its management has become a headache for the FIA.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem also said before the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday that he supports a proposal raised by McLaren Racing Chief, Zak Brown, who would require the teams that make accusations against another present a formal complaint with a monetary deposit. Brown suggested that the money would be returned if the accusations be true, but should count against the cost limit if they are not proven, as a deterrent for unfounded and harmful statements.
Ben Sulayem wants to adopt the rule, but is “studying” if I should count against the cost limit. That led him to express his frustration with the entire cost limit system, in which the FIA must review the annual expenditure of each team and make sure they are within the budget.
“I am analyzing the cost limit and is only giving a headache to the FIA. So what is the point of this?” Ben Sulayem said in his office next to the track about an hour before the race around Hard Rock Stadium.
“I don’t see meaning. Really.”
The cost limit was introduced in 2021 with new rules that restrict spending and a mobile scale of aerodynamic tests and CFD, financial regulations that have made the most closed competition. Cost limits prevent larger teams from spending endless in developments that smaller teams cannot afford.
The cost limit for the 2025 season is 140.4 million dollars.
As for Brown’s idea, which he raised in Miami using a bottle labeled as “tire water” to make fun of the accusations of Red Bull Racing that McLaren is using water to manipulate the temperatures of his tires, Ben Sulayem was completely agreed to collect the equipment for presenting an accusation.
“You can’t simply accuse someone without a written complaint, and that protest, you have to pay money,” said Ben Sulayem, who even suggested $ 50,000 as the possible rate to be collected.
Finally, Sulayem said that he hopes that the clarification of the pilot’s code of behavior will be completed next week, but it was explicit in which he will not raise the prohibition of blasphemies. The pilots, from this season, can be fined for cursing during official appearances of the FIA and the rule has been very criticized by multiple series pilots managed by the governing body.
Ben Sulayem said that the clarifications that will be addressed how the code of conduct is applied to the individual series, but will not lift the restriction on blasphemies.
