All 10 Formula One teams spent within the budget cap for the 2022 season, the governing FIA announced on Tuesday.
F1 teams were restricted to a budget of $135 million last year and each has been handed a certificate of compliance to say they operated within that figure.
The audit of the 2022 cap was a point of huge interest this year following Red Bull’s breach of the 2021 cap.
On that occasion, Red Bull was found to have breached by $1.8 million and was handed a fine of $7 million and a 10 percent reduction in its available windtunnel development time this year.
Rumours had spread around the paddock before the summer break that at least one team had overspent this year, but those rumblings were going around before the FIA had completed its audit process.
On top of the standard audit, the FIA confirmed an “extensive check of any non-F1 activities undertaken by the teams, which comprised multiple on-site visits to team facilities”, to ensure teams were not finding ways to circumvent the cap.
ESPN understands that process even included looking into WhatsApp messages of employees of various teams.
The FIA had bolstered its cost cap audit team this year after criticism at how late the cost cap findings for 2021 came out in 2022 and it hopes to continue improving the process in future.
In Tuesday’s statement, the governing body said the sport’s financial rules “will continue to be developed and refined based on the findings of each review process”.
Source: www.espn.com