It appears that there may be a clever workaround that Formula One teams can use to circumvent the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) cost cap rules. The potential scheme mirrors the practice of “no-show” or “no work” jobs usually associated with corruption or organized crime.
Fans of the television series The Sopranos might recall some characters getting put on the payrolls of construction companies even though they either did not show up for work at all or just sat around in the sun all day and did nothing except chew the fat and drink beer.
In the television show, the mobsters use these “jobs” as a way to put some easy cash into their pockets and supplement their other income streams.
In F1, this type of scheme could be used to boost the income of key personnel covered by the cost cap. While most F1 team positions fall under the FIA’s scrutiny, the rules specifically exempt three things: driver salaries, the top three paid personnel, and marketing costs.
It appears that the third offers an interesting opportunity to funnel additional income to engineers who cannot get a salary increase due to the cap limits.
Say, for example, a team “hires” the partner of a technical employee into an exempted position in the marketing department. The partner then gets paid a substantial sum for doing little or no work in an undefined marketing role. It could easily serve as a way to deliver money through a legal backdoor to supplement salaries constrained by the cost cap regime. These “no-show” or “no work” jobs could add some substantial income to the household which would otherwise be impossible.
It is not known whether any F1 team actually uses this strategy but it certainly might be something the FIA should ensure doesn’t happen. One would assume that allowing teams to increase remuneration to and retention of key technical personnel through the use of spousal hires would run counter to the spirit of the regulations.
Introduced in 2021, the cost cap for 2025 lies at US $135-million, with that amount increasing to $215-million next year, mostly to account for additional costs due to the significant technical changes for 2026.
In most cases, teams do conform to the rules, but the FIA previously found that Red Bull committed a “minor overspend” of the cost cap during the 2021 season. The team received a US $7-million fine and a 10% reduction in wind tunnel time.
At the time, the FIA found that Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner submitted a report that “inaccurately excluded and/or adjusted costs,” which meant the team over spent by $2.2-million.
Horner no longer heads Red Bull after being relieved of his duties in July after weathering a scandal involving an employee and the departure of several key personnel, including design whiz Adrian Newey. He departed the team for good in September after agreeing to a lucrative severance package deal.
In addition to Red Bull’s 2021 minor overspend, the FIA found Aston Martin, Red Bull, and Williams guilty of procedural breaches in 2021.
