Aston Martin enter Agreement over procedural breach of 2021 Cost Cap

Aston Martin have entered an Accepted Breach Agreement (ABA) with the FIA following a procedural breach of the 2021 Financial Regulations.

After the submission of financial documentation by all 10 Formula 1 teams, the Cost Cap Administration carried out a review under the Financial Regulations, and Aston Martin were found to be in a procedural breach of the rules – though their costs during the 2021 reporting period were under the Cost Cap.

READ MORE: Red Bull enter Agreement with FIA over breach of 2021 Financial Regulations

Aston Martin were found to have incorrectly excluded and/or adjusted costs pertaining to the building of their new headquarters, new F1 simulator, wind tunnel fees, R&D tax credit, a signing bonus cost, use of transferable components, used inventories, service desk costs, cost of catering services at their headquarters, costs of desks and chairs, sponsor services and outsourced personnel services.

The team must therefore pay a financial penalty of $450,000 within 30 days of the date of execution of the ABA, plus bear the cost incurred by the Cost Cap Administration.

"The Cost Cap Administration recognised that AMR has acted cooperatively and in good faith throughout the review process and has sought to provide additional information and evidence when requested in a timely manner, that this is the first year of the full application of the Financial Regulations and that there is no accusation or evidence that AMR has sought or obtained any undue advantage as a result of the breach," said the FIA on Friday in Mexico City.

Red Bull were also found in breach of the regulations and on Friday it was announced that they must pay $7million to the FIA plus incur a 10% reduction in their allocated Restricted Wind Tunnel Testing and Restricted Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) limits.

Non-compliance by the team with any terms of the ABA will result in further procedural breach and automatic referral to the Cost Cap Adjudication Panel.

In June, Williams became the first team to be found in procedural breach of the financial rules. They were given a fine of $25,000.