Formula 1 bosses to target motor insurance

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The world's motorsport governing body has launched a new initiative to tackle the surging cost of insurance cover, a challenge that has begun to squeeze organisers from grassroots racing circuits to top-tier international events.

The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) announced the creation of a Motorsport Insurance Task Force, chaired by its president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and co-led by senior officials Valerio Iachizzi and Willem Groenewald. The group will include representatives from FIA member clubs, insurers and risk specialists.

Its mission is to investigate escalating premiums, shrinking coverage availability and declining capacity among underwriters -- issues that risk undermining the accessibility and sustainability of racing worldwide. An interim report is due at the FIA's annual meeting in Uzbekistan in December.

"Our Members are at the heart of everything we do at the FIA," Ben Sulayem said. "Rising insurance costs risk limiting opportunities and undermining accessibility across the world. To address this, we must work hand in hand with our Clubs, insurers, and local authorities to deliver solutions that keep our sport safe, fair, and sustainable for all."

Industry executives say smaller promoters are among the most vulnerable. Even modest regional events can struggle to absorb premium increases, leaving development pathways for young drivers at risk.

FIA officials note that their experience in mobility policy -- where affordability and consumer protection dominate regulatory debate -- can inform motorsport. Groenewald said lessons from government engagement and consumer safety in transport could be applied to racing, where catastrophic losses and accessibility pressures intersect.

For insurers, the task force could provide rare insight into managing high-risk segments. If the FIA succeeds in developing benchmarks, claims metrics and preventive frameworks, those may become reference points for specialty underwriters beyond motorsport.

The initiative also underscores a broader truth: whether insuring a rally car, a taxi fleet or a family vehicle, the underlying forces of inflation, supply chain disruption and regulatory oversight are converging. Motorsport, with its acute exposures, simply illustrates those pressures in sharper relief.

The FIA's move signals that rising premiums are no longer seen as a background cost of doing business, but as a systemic risk to participation and growth. The question now is whether collaboration between regulators, insurers and organisers can stabilise coverage -- or whether access to racing will narrow to those who can afford spiralling costs.