FIA engine U-turn relays budget cap fears for F1 teams

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FIA engine U-turn relays budget cap fears for F1 teams

Will recent changes impact the budget cap?

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Wednesday 13 May 2026 14:30

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Following the FIA's recent proposal to change the F1 rules, concerns over the budget cap have been addressed.

The FIA, teams and engine manufacturers all agreed on a set of proposals that will see design changes to the V6 hybrid power units from 2027, altering the near 50-50 split between the internal combustion engine and electrical power.

From 2027, there will be an increase in power in the internal combustion engine which brings the split closer to 60-40, following complaints about the direction the new rules and regulations have gone in.

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Discussing the FIA's recent decision on the Up to Speed podcast, the implications of these changes on the budget cap —introduced in 2021 to control the expenditure of teams with a larger budget, to ensure an even playing field for the outfits with smaller budgets — were also taken into consideration.

How teams will contend with engine changes

F1 pundit Will Buxton addressed not only the implication of the recent changes, but also plans in five years time to potentially return to V8 engines and how manufacturers and teams will contend with this change.

Manufacturers such as Audi and Honda entered the sport on the basis the new regulations saw a commitment to electrical power, aligning with their wider brand ethos while also being beneficial to their road car technology.

Buxton referred to this impetus, and explained: "Not the changes for next year, but the fact that they've brought Audi in on the promise of these are the engines and then they're going to exist for five years and then you're going to chuck them out and go for something completely different. That’s a far bigger question.

"When you get involved in Formula 1, if you're a Cadillac, or you're an Audi, you know that you're not going into a sport where it costs pennies to compete. You understand that the regulations can and will change. You understand that it is going to be a massive outlay of expenditure every single season and you prepare for that. You prepare for that under a budget cap.

"If the budget cap suddenly increases and you're Audi. Like you're fine. If you're Cadillac, you're fine.

"If you're Haas and you’re Williams, I can imagine that there's a little bit of worry coming in there. But with the amount of money coming into the teams and the opportunity and the availability of sponsorship to come into teams now being higher than it ever has been in the past, I think most teams are at or close to being on the budget cap.

"And so I don't think if the budget cap increases in order to allow them to make these changes, they're going to struggle too much. Formula 1's in a boom period, absolute boom period in terms of the amount of of money coming into the sport."

He later added: "If they couldn't afford it they wouldn’t vote for it."

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