Cost cap breach rumours sweep the F1 paddock: What you missed at Mexico City GP

Lando Norris took the 2025 world championship lead by a solitary point after dominating in Mexico, but it wasn’t just the title fight grabbing the headlines in the F1 world.

Whispers of a cost cap breach were doing the rounds, the F1 concorde agreement is nearing completion and Honda’s grand prix tribute went slightly awry.

Cost cap rumours gather pace

There was a sense of deja vu in the Mexico City paddock at the start of the race weekend. Three years ago, it was the focal point of the first year of the financial regulations, with Red Bull receiving its punishment for exceeding the cost cap. This time around, rumours were again flying around relating to breaches.

Aston Martin was forthcoming in explaining where it had entered into an Accepted Breach Agreement (ABA) with the FIA, having only submitted unaudited accounts prior to the March 31 deadline due to extenuating circumstances. The Cost Cap Administration had been made aware and is understood to have been supportive, but not having signed, audited accounts until after the deadline still constitutes a breach and required addressing.

The fact that the latest set of certificates had not been issued by the end of October – compared to early September in each of the last two years – had raised speculation that there were more significant breaches being investigated, with one team in particular regularly being referenced by sources.

But that team firmly denied being in discussions over an ABA – the next step if there was any breach – and stated it was awaiting the certificates like everyone else.

A fair point that was raised in its defence was that the reputational damage can still be significant, particularly around matters of the cost cap, if rumours are started by rivals even if they have no foundation.

From the FIA’s perspective, the cards are being kept close to the chest, but there was an indication that the cost cap process for the 2024 submissions should be finalised over the coming weeks.

Concorde close to completion

Formula 1 appears to be working towards a future with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem in collaborative fashion, following recent news of Tim Mayer’s withdrawal from the presidential race.

Mayer cited the structure of the electoral process as making it impossible for anyone to challenge Ben Sulayem this year, due to a lack of approved candidates for the Vice President for Sport positions within any challenger’s list.

While the FIA refutes that – stating the process is the same as it has been for a number of previous elections and that candidates knew of the need to get supporters approved by the World Motor Sport Council – it means Ben Sulayem is set to run unopposed.

Even prior to that development, the relationship between F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali and Ben Sulayem has been described as much improved, with a more united approach compared to the previous power struggle between FOM and the FIA.

That appears to be continuing when it comes to finalising the future governance of the sport, with the FIA’s portion of the Concorde Agreement understood to be close to completion. While the aspect between the teams and the commercial rights holder was signed much earlier this year, the final overall agreement should lay the foundations for stability in the coming years as F1 looks to grow further, particularly with an eye on any regulations that will follow the 2026 rule changes.

Strong foundations for Mexico City

This weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix was celebrated by the organisers as the 10th event since it returned to the calendar in 2015, having dropped off the 2020 calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In that time, Sergio Perez has always been racing to give the home crowd plenty to get excited about, receiving massive support every year regardless of how competitive his machinery has been. So this year’s edition of the race was the first to not feature Perez on the grid, but you’d barely have known.

Granted, whenever Perez took to the track it was celebrated as a major moment in the past, with every lap through the Foro Sol section increasing the volume, but there was still a huge amount of passion on display throughout the weekend.

The approach in Mexico is to sell tickets early, with around 90% sold nearly a year in advance and fans able to pay in interest free instalments. That means Perez was still on the grid when the majority of tickets were purchased, and while some were returned, the remainder were quickly re-sold and a sell out achieved even prior to his confirmation as a Cadillac driver.

The race also targets an equal split between attendees from Mexico City itself, Mexico as a country, and international visitors, slightly protecting against the impact of a home driver, but the strong sales once again are deemed an indication of the sport’s global popularity at present, above and beyond one name.

Yuki’s less than perfect run

Saturday at the Mexico City Grand Prix marked 60 years to the day that Honda took its first victory in Formula 1, with Richie Ginther driving the RA272. To mark such a milestone, Honda had a major presence in Mexico, with Honda Motor Co. President and CEO Toshihiro Mine, and Honda Racing Corporation President and CEO Koji Watanabe both at the track to see a demonstration run.

Yuki Tsunoda got the privilege of driving the RA272 at the very same venue it first won on 60 years later, taking the car out for a lap on Sunday morning. Unfortunately, the car didn’t want to run as reliably in 2025, and the sweet sound of the V12 disappeared halfway round the lap.

Mechanics headed out to Tsunoda and did manage to get the car running again to bring it round to the Foro Sol stadium section, where Mibe-san and Watanabe-san were standing proudly with their driver to celebrate Honda’s history in the sport.

It might not have been the most smooth run, but it was still extremely cool to see the car out on track so many years later, as Honda promised to give its all to try and secure future success in F1, as it joins forces with Aston Martin next year. Given how well it overcame issues to win championships with Red Bull, you wouldn’t bet against it.