The FIA has indicated that it is not currently preparing to create an exemption in the F1 cost cap for Ferrari after one was made for Audi.
From 2026, the cost cap for F1 teams will rise to $215 million USD (currently £172.2 million GBP) from $135 million (£108.1 million), taking into account the cost of the new technical regulations and the rate of global inflation.
However, as the cost of living is higher in Switzerland, where Audi will be based out of the Sauber factory in Hinwil, a further rise is set to be accomodated for this one team, something the other nine are not happy about.
It therefore leads to the question whether Ferrari, as the only other non-UK based team (before Cadillac's arrival) would also granted an exemption to the new cost cap limit.
But FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis has explained why such a change will not be happening.
"The situation influencing the salaries between teams is a bit more complex because you have to take into consideration the difficulty in obtaining people from other teams because of what you have to pay them," he told select media including RacingNews365 when directly asked if Ferrari would receive an exemption.
"We believe it is correct to focus on the higher-labour cost countries, which at the moment, would be Switzerland.
"I will say that in democracy, where there's nine wolves and one sheep, I think you can see who would be the nine wolves.
"We do want to have, of course, consensus and democracy but it is our responsibility to also try to be fair, and when we have opportunities every five or six years to make adjustments that aim for fairness, maybe within the competition of Formula 1, it's difficult to get the necessary levels of majorities amongst teams to support us.
"We see our responsibility to be fair, which is what we always try to do."
Article continues below.
Viewed by others:
FIA explain Ferrari decision
Tombazis went onto explain how F1's governing body had reached the decision to increase Audi's cost cap limit, with fairness towards the team at the heart of the decision.
He also added that the FIA would be transparent with the other teams who fear something "underhand" could be happening.
"It became obvious to us that salaries in certain countries are much higher and cost of living is much higher in certain countries, I see it myself, as I live in Geneva and whenever I go to a supermarket, I think about it," he continued.
"We felt that for roughly the equal cost cap, a team based in a high labour cost country like Switzerland would end up having approximately 30% or even 40% fewer people working on the car, which we felt was fundamentally unfair.
"From a regulator point of view, it would eventually mean that teams could not operate and teams like Sauber would basically have to close and move to another country, which we don't think is the right way for the world championship to operate.
"That is why there is an adjustment in the financial regulations for 2026, which will adjust the salaries that get considered in the cost cap, and I think it is completely fair.
"We do plan to give it a bit more transparency as well so that teams which are maybe worried that something underhand is happening will be convinced, but I don't think anyone would have doubt about the fairness of this regulation."
Most read
Join the conversation!