FIA confirms £40m budget cap for 2010

The original figure mooted was £30 million, but has been revised upwards following consultation with Formula 1 teams instigated by FIA president Max Mosley last week.

The FIA confirmed that the budget cap would run from January 1 to December 31, with the £40 million figure covering all team expenditure, with certain exceptions.

Most notable among these is that engine costs will not be included in the budget capped expenditure for 2010.

Also excluded from the budget cap are marketing and hospitality, driver pay, fines and penalties imposed by the FIA, anything that teams can demonstrate has no influence on its on-track performance and dividends paid from profits relating to participation in the championship.

The FIA will allow those teams that sign up to the budget cap to have increased technical freedom to make it easier to compete with the uncapped teams. This includes adjustable front and rear wings as well as an engine that can run without a rev limit.

In addition, the budget cap teams will be allowed unlimited testing outside of the racing season, and will not be restricted by the wind tunnel scale and speed stipulations

The budget cap will be monitored by a new Costs Commission that will be set up to ensure that teams are adhering to the regulations. A chairman and two commissioners will be appointed to the body by the WMSC for a term of three years.

It was also stipulated that one of the commissioners should be an expert in finance and the other someone with high-level experience in motor sport.

The governing body also annouced that the maximum number of cars permitted to enter the championship has been increased to 26, from 24.