FIA Approves New Rules Separating F1 Team Staff
The governing body is mandating physical and digital segregation between Formula 1 and non-F1 operations starting in 2027.
Updated on Oct. 21, 2026 in Motorsports
Live Poll
Should regulatory bodies enforce strict separation between an organization's internal departments to ensure fair competition?
The FIA World Motor Sport Council has approved new regulations to enforce strict boundaries between F1 and non-F1 staff and IT systems. These measures aim to prevent teams from leveraging outside personnel to bypass cost cap limitations.
Why it matters
The FIA implemented these rules to prevent teams from using non-F1 staff to provide knowledge to F1 racing operations outside of cost cap constraints. This move closes potential loopholes that allow teams to share resources and intellectual property between departments.
Teams are required to maintain electronic access logs for three years and enforce a three-month cooling-off period for staff moving into F1 roles. Additionally, employees transferring between divisions must commit to 12 months of exclusive work within their new unit.
The players
FIA World Motor Sport Council
This body is responsible for the regulation of international motor sport and setting the standards for Formula 1 teams.
The details
Factories must be physically divided into restricted areas, with teams required to implement electronic access control systems. Furthermore, IT infrastructure must be fully segregated to ensure that information transfer from non-F1 divisions to racing teams is prohibited.
Timeline
2023: FIA issued TD45 regarding Intellectual Property accounting.
October 2026: FIA World Motor Sport Council approved new regulations.
2027: New F1 operational regulations become effective.
The Big Picture
These regulations follow the foundation set by the FIA TD45 Technical Directive and represent a significant hardening of the rules governing team operations. This move signals a permanent shift toward total internal resource isolation to protect the integrity of the cost cap.
Teams that rely on shared personnel or joint research facilities between their racing and non-racing arms face immediate operational restructuring. This will likely alter how teams manage their technical development budgets and staff distribution ahead of the 2027 season.
The takeaway
The FIA is forcing a hard decoupling of racing and commercial divisions to ensure competitive fairness. Teams must now finalize their infrastructure upgrades to meet the strict digital and physical separation requirements by 2027.
Further reading
For more on the current state of professional racing, visit our Motorsports section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Race.
Live Poll
Should regulatory bodies enforce strict separation between an organization's internal departments to ensure fair competition?
