Aston Martin has been one of the teams involved in Formula 1’s latest cost cap intrigue – with the squad accepting responsibility for a minor procedural breach.
As first revealed by The Race, a delay in the FIA handing out compliance certificates to teams so far has pointed towards the governing body probing issues with submissions for last season.
While it is understood that motor racing's governing body has not yet concluded its review process with all competitors, Aston Martin on Thursday revealed that it has already signed off on an Accepted Breach Agreement.
Sources have suggested that the Aston Martin situation revolved around a signature being absent from the fully audited documents that had been submitted to the FIA before the March 31 deadline last year.
It is understood that this was due to circumstances beyond its control and, once it could get the right signature in place, it then refiled the paperwork.
While Aston Martin kept the FIA fully informed of the situation, and its cost cap submissions were below the spending limit, the lack of the signature meant it was still guilty of a procedural breach.
That triggered an Accepted Breach Agreement process, where Aston Martin accepted responsibility for what happened.
However, in light of the circumstances, and events being outside of its control, it is understood that no penalty has been handed down beyond costs.
The Aston Martin situation is unlikely to be made official until the FIA makes a formal announcement about its conclusions from all 10 teams regarding their cost cap submissions for last year.
Speaking earlier in the day, the FIA said the findings should be made public imminently – with there being no official words on the status of any ongoing review work that still needs to be done.
An FIA spokesperson said: “The FIA’s Cost Cap Administration is in the process of finalising the review of the 2024 submissions from teams and power unit manufacturers, the result of which is expected to be communicated shortly.
“The FIA does not comment on individual submissions made by specific teams and/or powerunit manufacturers and, as per established practice, the results of the review will be made public once assessment of all submissions are completed and finalised.”
