The FIA says it will not rush its investigation into compliance with the Formula 1 cost cap despite intensifying paddock rumours that several teams have been found in breach of the financial regulations.

Various reports in the Italian, French and German media in the last fortnight have suggested as many as four teams could have overspent last year’s cap, though they vary as to which constructors could be in the spotlight.

In response to the proliferating rumours ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, the FIA released a carefully worded statement declaring that its investigation is ongoing and that no team has yet been ruled in or out of compliance.

“In light of recent reporting, we’d like to reiterate the ongoing process preceding financial regulation certification for the teams, none of which have been informed of their certification status,” the governing body said.

“The auditing fieldwork is still ongoing and is scheduled to conclude in the upcoming weeks, after which there will be a period required for the finalisation of the review.”

The FIA said it will not fix an end date on the process lest it risk the integrity of the audit.

“There is not, and has never been, a specific deadline for certification, and any suggestions of delays to this process or potential breaches are completely unfounded,” it said.

“The Cost Cap Administration will formally communicate its findings according to the procedure set out in the financial regulations.

“The time frame is intentionally not fixed in order not to prejudice the robustness and the effectiveness of the review.”

The FIA has beefed up the auditing process this year following criticism that last year’s investigation was finalised too late in the season.

It took until last October to publish its findings into spending for the 2021 season, which declared both Red Bull Racing and Aston Martin in breach.

Aston Martin’s noncompliance was deemed procedural based on accounting protocols, but Red Bull Racing was declared to have broken the cap outright by US$2.3 million on its way to Max Verstappen’s maiden championship.

Milton Keynes was fined US$7 million and docked 10 per cent of its development time for 12 months through to October this year. Its spending allowance for this season was left unaffected.

Several rival teams have since suggested the penalty was not sufficiently harsh, with Ferrari boss Frédéric Vasseur saying the development reduction would be worth at most a loss of 0.1 seconds of performance over a season.

Stefano Domenicali recently told Autosport that Formula 1’s preference for any potential future breaches would be for the FIA to levy a sporting penalty that would tangibly impact the championship rather than a financial or technical punishment.

“I would like the penalty to be sporting in case of infringement,” he said. “It is something we asked for very clearly.

“There are three regulations to be respected: sporting, technical and financial. Any infractions must be punished with sporting measures. You can’t go in other directions.”

He also encouraged the governing body to publish its findings as quickly as possible to avoid replicating the febrile paddock conditions of late last year, when increasingly pointed accusations flew freely between teams, some of which Red Bull Racing team boss alleged at the time were defamatory.

“Control is in the hands of the FIA,” Domenicali said. “Personally what I have asked is to anticipate as soon as possible the publication of the investigations made by the staff of the FIA.

“But I say this only because, in this way, it does not give rise to speculation and comments that are not good for anyone.”

Domenicali’s commentary prompted a rebuke from the FIA, re-emphasising the division of powers between the governing body and F1’s commercial rights holder.

“The FIA notes that comments regarding changes to the framing of current and future Formula 1 regulations have recently appeared in the media,” he said.

“The FIA stresses that while it welcomes opinions from stakeholders, the regulatory powers over all FIA championships — including the FIA Formula 1 world championship — are vested in the FIA.

“Any technical, sporting or financial sanctions and/or amendments to such regulations will follow due process.”

WHAT’S THE COST CAP PROCESS?

The Formula 1 cost cap was introduced for the 2021 season as an equalisation measure that would prevent the sport’s largest teams from breaking away from the smallest ones based on their financial firepower.

The cap was set at US$145 million for the first season and declines by US$5 million increment each season.

The 2022 spending limit was set at a base rate of US$140 million, though in practice it was slightly higher thanks to allowances for seasons comprising more than 21 races, for sprint rounds and to account for inflation.

Teams are required to file interim reports with the FIA halfway through the year before their complete financial data is handed over at the end of March in the following season for auditing.

The FIA’s Cost Cap Administration has been forensically analysing the submissions for almost four months. All team headquarters are subject to on-site audits as part of the investigation, and follow-up interviews and requests for more documentation are possible.

Auditing Formula 1 teams is a deeply complex task given the sprawling nature of the business structures involved. The FIA has reportedly more than doubled its auditing team, from four members up to 10, to both speed up the process and allow for a more thorough analysis.

The regulations have also been tweaked since the conclusion of last year’s reports. This year the FIA attempted to close a potential loophole that could have allowed teams to set up a subsidiary business for the purposes of development that could then be given for free to the race team, thereby bypassing the cost cap.

The practice of seconding senior technical staff to subsidiary companies on special projects has become commonplace in recent years, with F1 teams keen to profit from levying their expertise in real-word applications.

But the governing body has become concerned that the flow of information may have reversed since the cost cap was introduced, with the F1 teams instead leaning on their subsidiaries for bonus development work.

The supplemental rules may not be enough to cover all possibilities, however.

Respected German publication Auto Motor und Sport has reported that the FIA is yet to come up with a way to prevent teams like Red Bull Racing and Aston Martin from using special road car projects — the RB17 and Valkyrie respectively — to essentially test F1 developments outside of the sport’s usual testing restrictions. Such a route would theoretically be open to Mercedes and McLaren as well.

There is no suggestion any team is exploiting this loophole, but the difficulty of policing such a situation speaks to the ever-expanding frontiers the governing body needs to police as teams attempt to push the rules to breaking point.