The FIA's World Motor Sport Council has approved new regulations designed to stop teams' non-F1 staff from working on Formula 1 projects. The governing body appears to have acted because some teams had been using staff and facilities officially allocated to other activities to get around the budget cap.
Under the previous system, an engineer's expertise could be split between F1 and another programme, with only the F1 share counted against the cap. Spending could therefore be hidden within programmes such as product development, WEC, Formula E or sailing. The FIA is now going much further by genuinely separating F1 from all other activities. Five new articles in the 2027 operational regulations impose significant restrictions on the use of technological assets, including simulators, wind tunnels, test benches, data centres and IT systems.
The new segregation measures will bar non-F1 staff from entering the F1 factory, and those on grand prix work will not be allowed to visit colleagues in other divisions. Staff moving from F1 to another sector will need a new contract detailing their new duties, and their company badge and email will be disabled. An employee who leaves the team cannot return for at least one year. Anyone moving from a non-F1 programme into the F1 squad must also complete a three-month gardening period, during which they may not take part in any company activities.
The changes are expected to increase staff numbers and costs, as teams running non-F1 programmes turn to external candidates and peripheral projects lose the synergies and collaboration opportunities they once enjoyed. For teams that are part of automotive giants, the rules will fundamentally change how their F1 operations function, requiring them to run independently of their parent companies.
Source: Autosport F1 News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing