WEC COTA

Why WEC can’t simply replace BoP with a Formula 1-style cost cap

Toyota and Porsche warn that the radically different ways manufacturers build and operate Hypercar programmes make a universal spending limit difficult to enforce

Heiko Stritzke Joey Barnes

Published: Aug 28, 2026, 8:13 PM

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Warum eine Budgetobergrenze in der WEC kaum umsetzbar ist

Freier Wettbewerb bei gedeckeltem Budget? In der WEC nicht so einfach möglich

Photo by: FIA WEC DPPI

In Formula 1, the budget cap has been a fixed part of the regulations since 2021. But the same model cannot simply be transferred to the FIA WEC, say sources at Toyota and Porsche.

While there is ongoing debate in the Hypercar class about replacing the controversial Balance of Performance (BoP) with financial regulations, Toyota and Porsche say the structure of Hypercar racing makes such a system extremely difficult to implement.

Both Toyota technical director David Floury and Urs Kuratle, head of the LMDh factory programme at Porsche, see enormous hurdles in its implementation.

The principal difficulty is the variety of structures used by WEC manufacturers. While Formula 1 operates under largely uniform organisational structures with teams acting as their own constructors, the Hypercar class brings together vastly different philosophies, regulatory frameworks, and operational concepts.

David Floury

David Floury ist kein Fan der BoP, aber ein Cost Cap ist für ihn nicht umsetzbar

Foto: Getty Images

"A budget cap, to answer this question, is, I think, very difficult to put in place in WEC because you have, by essence, very different program structures," David Floury told Motorsport.com.

"You have teams who use external teams to operate their program, but they do the developments themselves, including with a spine supplier. Some others, like Ferrari or us, are much more integrated into one unit."

Dual programmes further complicate matters: several manufacturers compete simultaneously in the WEC and the IMSA SportsCar Championship. Furthermore, some brands rely on customer cars, while others run pure factory efforts.

"To put a budget cap on so different parameters is, I think, very challenging. I would say almost impossible," the Frenchman said.

It marks a setback for all those who hoped to control the sport through wallet limits rather than artificial performance adjustments—including Floury himself, who criticised the BoP heavily back in 2025.

Could WEC combine BoP with development limits?

Urs Kuratle spricht sich für eine vielschichtige Lösung aus

Foto: Porsche

If a comprehensive cost cap proves impractical, unrestricted development presents the opposite problems. Kuratle says that unrestricted development risks recreating the costly arms race seen during the LMP1 era.

"There's another thing which is 100% sure: You cannot let it free because then you have a development war," he said, recalling the LMP1 era of the 2010s.

"And within a couple of years, many people would leave the championship again because of this. So at the end of the day, there's only one or two brands left because it costs so much money."

At the other extreme, allowing unrestricted development could reduce the need for performance balancing but risk driving costs sharply higher. The challenge is therefore to balance technical competition with affordability.

#93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06: Renger van der Zande, Nick Yelloly

Photo by: Brandon Badraoui / Lumen via Getty Images

Kuratle believes the debate need not be a binary choice between BoP and a cost cap. "It's not even sure whether it's really an either-or decision," the Swiss said.

"Maybe it's also a mix possible from the whole thing. For example, a cost cap on the joker exclusively." Acura had cited the expensive Evo jokers as a key reason when pausing its factory commitment in IMSA.

The ACO’s current direction is different. Rather than policing expenditure directly, the ACO has favoured what it calls a “virtual budget cap”: technical rules intended to reach a point where spending substantially more produces diminishing performance returns.

A prime example often cited is Toyota's Formula 1 effort in the 2000s, when the Japanese manufacturer failed to achieve expected success despite operating with one of the largest budgets on the grid.

Accordingly, the draft regulations rely on technical standardisation and BoP as controlling mechanisms. Evo jokers and cost caps do not feature in the draft.

"There's a lot of ideas floating around. There's also a lot of behind-the-scenes discussions with the governance bodies what's best," Kuratle added.

"There's one thing for sure: there's definitely not the one and only good solution. Otherwise, the governance bodies would have taken that solution already a long time. It has to be a compromise somewhere."

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