The FIA have announced that they will not be making controversial changes to a key rule in Formula 1.
F1's governing body have been under much scrutiny of late for the proposed changes, which would directly affect employees and families at F1 teams up and down the grid.
The cost cap was initially brought into F1 back in 2021, with the idea to make the sport fairer and provide less of a gap between the teams with greater financial power and smaller teams on the grid.
Red Bull were the first team to fall foul of this cost cap, and were fined £5.5 million in 2022, as well as being given a 10% reduction in aerodynamic testing for 12 months.
What is F1's cost cap?
Teams in 2024 are only allowed to spend £106 million throughout the year on things that include all car components, upgrades and spare parts as well as team personnel salaries and transportation costs. It doesn't, however, include driver salaries.
Employees' rights such as access to maternity/paternity cover and staff entertainment including Christmas party expenses are also not currently included in the cap.
This was thought to change in the future, with rulemakers wanting to change the cost cap rule to ensure the regulation was simplified, and included more parameters.
However, after concerns from teams and staff about employee rights, the FIA have announced that they will not be including a variety of factors in future cost cap rules.
“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 to 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.”