FIA approves tougher F1 staff-separation rules for 2027

The FIA’s World Motor Sport Council has approved five new articles for the 2027 operational regulations, requiring Formula 1 teams to keep their grand prix operations separate from other company activities. Non-F1 staff will be barred from entering the F1 factory, while grand prix personnel will not be allowed to visit colleagues in other divisions.

The separation also covers technology. The regulations impose significant restrictions on the use of simulators, wind tunnels, test benches, data centres and IT systems.

Staff transfers will become more formal. Moving from F1 to another sector will require a new contract detailing the employee’s duties, and their company badge and email will be disabled. An employee who leaves the team cannot return for at least a year. Anyone moving from a non-F1 programme into the F1 squad will have to spend three months unable to undertake any company activity.

Motorsport.com describes the rules as an effort to close a cost-cap loophole: previously, an engineer’s role could be divided between F1 and another programme, with only the F1 share charged to the cap. The report says the transfer of know-how between those activities was already limited. The separation is expected to increase staffing and costs; non-F1 programmes may need to recruit externally and lose some opportunities for collaboration.