Honda and Alpine Commit Procedural Breach of F1 Cost Cap

Honda and Alpine have both committed a “procedural breach” of Formula 1’s cost-cap regulations for the 2023 season, according to the FIA. Honda partners with Red Bull while Alpine supplies engines for the Renault-owned team of the same name. Although details of the breaches were not specified, the FIA confirmed that neither manufacturer exceeded the cost cap.

Procedural breaches generally involve errors in submitting financial data rather than overspending. The FIA stated that both Honda and Alpine acted in good faith and are cooperating with the cost-cap administration team to resolve the issue. The FIA has proposed an “accepted breach agreement” (ABA) for both manufacturers where they would acknowledge the rule violations and agree to any penalties.

Honda commented that the breach was a simple, unintentional mistake and reiterated that they remained within the cost cap even with the error. Alpine echoed a similar sentiment, clarifying that their breach was related to administrative issues with Alpine Racing SAS (Viry-Chatillon) and had no connection to overspending. Both manufacturers are working with the FIA to ensure compliance moving forward.

The FIA also confirmed that all 10 teams complied with the cost cap for their chassis-manufacturing operations. This was the first season in which the cost cap applied to engine manufacturers in addition to teams. In 2022, Red Bull exceeded the cost cap by £1.8m in the first year of its introduction, leading to a $7m (£5.35m) fine and a 10% reduction in aerodynamic research time.

Aston Martin also committed a procedural breach in the same year and was fined $450,000 (£344,000). Both instances served as significant benchmarks for the FIA’s cost-cap enforcement moving forward.