F1 cost cap rumors hang over the Mexico City Grand Prix

As the 2025 Formula 1 season draws to a close, there is plenty of drama coursing through the paddock. Max Verstappen’s late-season charge up the Drivers’ Championship standings, pulling the Red Bull driver within striking distance of Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, and a potential fifth title, has dominated the sport in recent weeks.

Yet, as the grid looks ahead to this weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix, there is drama of a different sport casting a shadow over the paddock.

The sport’s cost cap.

On Thursday, reports surfaced -- first at Planet F1 and then at The Race -- that Aston Martin had committed a “procedural” violation of the cost cap regulations. According to reporting from Planet F1, the violation involved a missing signature from an outside auditor in Aston Martin’s submission to the FIA, F1’s governing body, which was not provided until after the deadline had passed.

According to The Race, the team kept the FIA “fully informed” of the situation. While Aston Martin’s submission came in below the F1 cost cap, the lack of a signature before the March 31 deadline meant that the team was technically in procedural breach of the regulations.

As set forth by The Race, Aston Martin has already accepted responsibility for the procedural breach through an Accepted Breach Agreement, and it is understood that the only penalty will be the imposition of costs.

However, the drama does not end there.

According to several reports, a second team is facing a “substantial” breach of the cost cap regulations. Those rumors began to swirl last week in the paddock at the United States Grand Prix, and the latest reporting from Planet F1 indicates that the involved team is “challenging” the alleged breach of the cost cap regulations.

Helping to fuel the rumors is the delay in the certification from the FIA. In recent years, the certification of cost cap compliance was released by the sport’s governing body in September. However, when Red Bull was found to have breached the cost cap regulations, that certification was pushed back to October.

We are deep into October at this point.

“The FIA’s Cost Cap Administration is in the process of finalising the review of the 2024 submissions from Teams and Power Unit Manufacturers, the result of which is expected to be communicated shortly,” the FIA said in a statement issued to Planet F1.

“The FIA does not comment on individual submissions made by specific Teams and/or Power Unit Manufacturers and, as per established practice, the results of the review will be made public once assessment of all submissions are completed and finalised.”

When Red Bull was found to be in breach of the cost cap regulations for the 2021 season -- the FIA found that they exceeded the cost cap by 1.6%, or $2.3 million -- they were given a fine of $7 million and saw their 10% reduction in wind tunnel testing.

The cost cap for the 2024 F1 season was initially set at $135 million, but due to inflation and an adjustment because of the length of the season, that number was increased to $165 million. Under the related regulations, teams are limited in what they can spend on car parts (but not the power units), the majority of team personnel, equipment, and transportation.

Driver salaries, the salaries of the three highest-paid team staff members, marketing, bonuses, and other non-car expenditures are excluded from the cost cap restrictions.