Audi will be allowed to spend more under Formula 1’s budget cap provisions from 2026.
Bosses at the Sauber team, now 100 percent owned by Audi ahead of the start of the German carmaker’s official F1 project from 2026, have argued they should be permitted to spend more because of higher wage bills in Switzerland.
The exact increase is not yet known, but wages in Switzerland, where Sauber’s Hinwil factory is located, are generally about 30 percent higher than in Britain.
Predictably, rival Formula 1 teams are reportedly unhappy with the idea of special treatment for Audi, but they are powerless to block the move because a new Concorde Agreement for 2026 is yet to be agreed or signed.
According to the FIA’s single seater boss Nikolas Tombazis, the fact that the governing body currently has full freedom to help out Audi is good news.
"Otherwise, it would be like trying to form a democracy out of nine wolves and one sheep," he smiled.
However, Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur predicts that other teams will now also be lining up for special dispensation. "That would lead to endless discussions," he said.