Formula 1

AlphaTauri explains why it voted against cost cap rule change

AlphaTauri Formula 1 chief Franz Tost says changes to the financial regulations must be made “in a proper way” after voting against sporting penalties for procedural breaches last week.

Luke Smith

Luke Smith

Edited: May 7, 2021, 7:48 PM

Copy link

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on WhatsApp

Share on Linkedin

Share on Pinterest

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Franz Tost, Team Principal, AlphaTauri, in the team principals Press Conference

The 2021 season marks the first year that F1 is racing under a new budget cap and financial regulations, limiting each team to spending $145 million per season.

Within the financial regulations, F1 lawmakers are permitted to sanction teams for breaches via financial penalties, minor sporting penalties, material sporting penalties or enhanced monitoring.

But it emerged last week that discussions over the introduction of sporting penalties for procedural breaches had seen three teams - AlphaTauri, Red Bull and Ferrari - not show their support. 

Read Also:

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto later explained that the team wanted greater clarity before it could give its backing to the change, but that he was not against sporting penalties being used. 

AlphaTauri team principal Tost echoed Binotto's comments on Friday, saying the responsibility now lies with the FIA to give clarification about the proposed changes.

"It's quite clear, this is a change during the season, and what we requested is simply a clarification, and we wait now until the FIA will come up with this," said Tost when asked by Motorsport.com about AlphaTauri's position on the matter.

"Then we will decide how to continue. I don't want to go into details here, because as you know, this is confidential contents.

"AlphaTauri, as you know, is absolutely not against cost cap or against any amendments for the cost cap.

"But it has to be done in a proper way, and we simply need to define in detail what the FIA wants with this. Therefore, we requested for this clarification."

Talks between the teams and the FIA over the proposed tweaks to the financial regulations are set to continue in the coming weeks.

Another area being discussed by teams at the moment relates to a proposed driver salary cap that would place a fresh limit on spending that is currently outside the financial regulations.

Tost has been one of the main voices calling for the change, and said on Friday that he thought a sum of "30 million for both drivers" was a good landing point.

"This is in discussion, and it depends as always on how much financial resources the different teams have, and in which direction we will go," Tost said.

His suggestion was supported by Aston Martin team boss Otmar Szafnauer, who said it should be "in that region", but Haas chief Gunther Steiner felt "a lot more work" was required before a figure could be proposed.

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Read also :

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on WhatsApp

Share on Linkedin

Share on Pinterest

Share on Viber

Previous article Red Bull/Mercedes gap justifies low-rake complaints - Aston

Next article F1 team bosses to hold meeting to discuss track limit rules

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

More from

Luke Smith



1998 Belgian GP: When the Schumachers went to war

Formula 1

Formula 1

1998 Belgian GP: When the Schumachers went to war



The race that transformed perceptions of Red Bull

Formula 1

Formula 1

The race that transformed perceptions of Red Bull



Hamilton in the process of selecting Brad Pitt’s co-star for F1 movie

Formula 1

Formula 1

Hamilton in the process of selecting Brad Pitt’s co-star for F1 movie

Latest news



Lamborghini World Finals | AM-LC Race 1: An unstoppable Lewandowski dominates to win Race 1

Lamborghini Super Trofeo

LBST Lamborghini Super Trofeo

World Finals - Monza 2026

1 h

Lamborghini World Finals | AM-LC Race 1: An unstoppable Lewandowski dominates to win Race 1



Why Cadillac F1 boss provoked fresh intrigue by dodging driver question

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

United States GP

2 h

Why Cadillac F1 boss provoked fresh intrigue by dodging driver question



Lamborghini World Finals | PRO-PRO/AM Qualifying: Pole position for Lind, Bamber, Van der Drift and Marcelli

Lamborghini Super Trofeo

LBST Lamborghini Super Trofeo

World Finals - Monza 2026

2 h

Lamborghini World Finals | PRO-PRO/AM Qualifying: Pole position for Lind, Bamber, Van der Drift and Marcelli



Jorge Martin's endless ordeal since signing for Aprilia

MotoGP

MGP MotoGP

Australian GP

2 h

Jorge Martin's endless ordeal since signing for Aprilia

Feature

Discover prime content



What we learned from Friday practice at the 2026 United States GP

Formula 1

United States GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

What we learned from Friday practice at the 2026 United States GP



Max Verstappen’s words explained: Why Red Bull’s turnaround is so different this time

Formula 1

United States GP

By Ronald Vording

Max Verstappen’s words explained: Why Red Bull’s turnaround is so different this time



Mission control: Inside the FIA and F1's latest answer to football's VAR

Formula 1

United States GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

Mission control: Inside the FIA and F1's latest answer to football's VAR



How Kimi Antonelli levelled up his character to be F1 2026's world champion-elect

Formula 1

United States GP

By Filip Cleeren

How Kimi Antonelli levelled up his character to be F1 2026's world champion-elect

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts

Subscribe