McLaren Racing have been ordered to pay a six-figure fine – by a motorsport series in which it doesn’t even race in. The outfit is most famous for its Formula 1 team and also competes in the American IndyCar series. Up until last year, it also fielded two cars in the all-electric Formula E championship.
After three seasons, McLaren pulled out of FE at the end of the 2024-25 season but the holding company, McLaren Electric Racing Ltd, is still operational. And it must pay a £346,000 fine after entering into an Accepted Breach Agreement with the FIA’s Cost Cap Administration over what was described as a “minor overspend” in that final season.
In the statement confirming the overspend and the ABA, the FIA stated that McLaren had voluntarily notified the CCA of its 4.54 percent overspend in that final year on the FE grid. The cause was put down to additional costs incurred by the decision to pull out of the championship, which led to an eventual overspend of £555,628.
A statement from Formula E read: “The competitor gave its full support in providing all the required information to assess its financial situation during this reporting period of the Financial Regulations. McLaren Formula E Team voluntarily notified the Cost Cap Administration of a minor overspend breach, of 4.54 percent of the cost cap, prior to any formal investigation.
“The Cost Cap Administration recognises that the team has acted cooperatively and in full transparency throughout the process, that the overspend primarily arises from costs associated with the orderly wind-down of the team following the decision to exit the championship at the conclusion of Season 11, and relates principally to operational matters associated with that process.
“There is no accusation or evidence of aggravating factors or that the team has sought at any time to act in bad faith. In these circumstances, the Cost Cap Administration offered to McLaren Formula E Team an ABA to resolve this matter. That offer was accepted by the competitor.”
As the team has left the championship, no sporting penalty could be applied and neither McLaren’s F1 team nor its new new World Endurance Championship hypercar project, both of which are FIA-sanctioned racing series, are affected in any way. It is a matter only concerning the still-active holding company which oversaw its Formula E outfit.
McLaren only entered FE for the first time in the 2022-23 season, taking over the entry previously operated by Mercedes. Stoffel Vandoorne had won the title with the outfit the previous year but, while pole positions and podiums were secured in McLaren’s first season on the grid, Sam Bird’s 2024 Sao Paulo E-Prix win would be the team’s only victory in the all-electric racing series.