FIA president considering scrapping a key F1 rule: “What’s the point of it?”

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is reportedly considering dropping the cost cap from Formula 1 regulations after saying he doesn’t see the “point” of having it.

F1 imposed an annual cost cap at the beginning of the 2021 season, limiting teams from spending more than $135 million a year (depending upon factors such as inflation and length of the calendar) in a bid to level the playing field.

However, monitoring and policing the cost cap is both a time-consuming and expensive affair, with certain items - including driver salaries - not being included under the cost cap.

Teams have had to hire additional administrative staff to ensure they remain under the limit, while the FIA has had to allocate a dedicated team to check whether the teams are complying with it.

FIA consider scrapping cost cap

This has led Ben Sulayem to question the need for a budget cap in F1, saying it's been a source of “headache” for the FIA.

“I’m looking at the cost cap and it’s just giving the FIA a headache. So what’s the point of it?,” he was quoted by the Associated Press.

“I don’t see the point. I really don’t.”

In the Miami GP, McLaren team principal Zak Brown said that any team making an accusation against a rival should be obliged to lodge a protest and deposit money against it.

It followed Brown using a water bottle with a ‘tire water’ label in Miami as a way of poking fun at Red Bull for accusing McLaren of using water to cool down tyres.

F1 teams already have to deposit €2000 with the FIA when they file a protest, but Brown wants to deter teams from airing baseless accusations in public.

FIA president Ben Sulayem agreed with Brown’s proposal saying: “You cannot just accuse someone without a written complaint, and that protest, you have to pay money.”

The Emirati further suggested $50,000 as a potential fee for such comments and protests.