Word on the beat, September 2022

A Porsche announcement at the Austrian GP concerning its buying a stake in Red Bull Racing in the future was postponed, probably until the end of the year when it’s believed there will be a Porsche IPO on the stock market.

The FIA’s executive director of F1, Peter Bayer, top, left the governing body suddenly in June, reportedly after a disagreement with FIA president Mohammed bin Sulayem about the timing of publication of regulations about F1’s 2026 power unit formula. He has been replaced in the short term by Shaila-Ann Rao, formerly a legal adviser to Mercedes’ Toto Wolff. Prior to that she worked with the FIA as legal director. Ferrari’s Mattia Binotto admitted he had ‘concerns’ about someone associated with a rival team being in the position. “It’s down to them to make sure that there will be no conflicts of interest.” Meanwhile the FIA announced that Michael Masi, the race director in charge of the controversial 2021 title decider GP, has left the organisation to spend more time with his family.

Speculation about Daniel Ricciardo’s future has intensified. He is not expected to see out his McLaren contract, which runs to the end of 2023. Although Colton Herta, right, has tested for the team at Portimão, McLaren is understood to be keen on taking Alpine reserve driver Oscar Piastri on loan. Alex Albon may also feature in the McLaren equation.

The 2022 cost cap has been increased by 3.1% ($4.3m) in response to the challenges posed to the top teams in meeting the $140m cap by inflation rates much higher than forecast. This was a compromise between the top teams (which were pushing for an increase of around $8m) and the smaller teams (which wanted no increase).