The FIA has closed off a potential loophole in Formula 1’s cost cap regulations to prevent teams from making use of staff outside of spending restrictions, Motorsport.com has learned.

In recent years it has been common for F1 teams to employ senior technical staff to work in separate divisions on technical projects to exploit knowledge gained in grand prix racing and sell it to the wider business world.

In a technical directive that was originally drafted earlier this year but has recently been revised and put into force, the FIA has made clear to teams that they will not be allowed to transfer any Intellectual Property from projects running outside of their F1 operations back into the squad without that work falling under the cost cap.

The arrival of TD45 comes against the backdrop of what several sources have said is a much more thorough effort by the FIA to investigate team spending this year as part of its cost cap analysis.