'Pointless' F1 rule that sparked McLaren and Red Bull row may now be scrapped

FIA president is considering scrapping the cost cap in Formula One. The rules were introduced in 2021 to try and close the gap between teams, but they have caused plenty of rows as a result.

A budget cap worth £109million ($145m) was introduced to attempt to provide those further down the grid with the opportunity to challenge the high-flyers. However, in October 2022, a feud broke out between and due to the rules being breached.

Other questions have been raised about the cap itself and whether it truly achieves what it set out to do. As such, the Associated Press reports that Ben Sulayem is considering ridding the sport of the cap.

He said: "I'm looking at the cost cap and it's just giving the FIA a headache. So what's the point of it? I don't see the point. I really don't."

The topic being discussed will be music to the ears of some teams, though 's may not be particularly pleased given how he became embroiled in a fierce feud with 's as a result of the cap previously.

In 2022, the FIA announced that Red Bull were found guilty of a 'minor' breach of the rules, which later emerged to be £1.8m, prompting Brown to write a letter to the governing body to insist that his team's rivals had therefore been 'cheating by offering a significant advantage across technical, sporting and financial regulations'.

Brown added that gained an 'unfair advantage' over the rest of the grid via their spending. An Accepted Breach Agreement was eventually reached between the FIA and , with the latter being hit with a £5.2m ($7m) fine and having their aerodynamic testing allowance reduced by 10 per cent for 12 months.

Speaking about how the matter unfolded last year, Brown slammed Horner again, saying: "I believe in transparency. I believe in putting your hand up when you get something wrong. The cost cap, the excuses behind that, I never really heard a 'we just got it wrong'. I heard excuses and not taking ownership.

"When someone breaches the cost cap, and doesn't seem to kind of take it seriously, that's kind of hitting the integrity and core of the sport. To me, it's not personal. It's protecting our sport."