In recent days, Mercedes and Red Bull have been in the news frequently because of an alleged trick with the new engine for 2026. The Formula 1 regulations are being overhauled, in which the engine plays a crucial role. The ratio between the combustion engine and the battery changes from 80/20 to 50/50. Anyone who has the battery in good order can have a significant advantage.
However, F1 teams are always looking for loopholes in the law of Formula 1. They explore the edges of the regulations in order to gain the greatest possible advantage and outsmart the competition. Mercedes and reportedly Red Bull also succeeded by using a trick with the compression ratio of the engine.
This is how it works: the compression ratio may only be 16:1 in 2026, compared to 18:1 in 2025. The compression ratio refers to the ratio between the total cylinder volume before compression and the remaining volume after compression. However, Mercedes and Red Bull could still achieve a ratio of around 18:1 while using the engine, without actively violating FIA regulations. In theory, on a circuit like Melbourne, this can yield up to 15 extra horsepower and three-tenths of time savings.
These rumors have of course angered the other engine suppliers – Honda, Audi and Ferrari. They demand that the FIA adjust the regulations, but that is not ABC. There is little time until the Australian Grand Prix and rule changes would lead to impossible production processes. So it now seems that the FIA (temporarily?) allows the trick.
Problems with the regulations?
However, the alleged trick by Mercedes and Red Bull is not the only thing that has led to controversy in the run-up to 2026. The FIA recently adjusted the technical regulations to include a trick with the fuel-flow meter to prevent. F1 is switching to fully sustainable fuels, which means the ceiling has been adjusted and a new measuring method is being applied.
The previous ceiling, which was a maximum mass flow of 100 kilograms per hour, is replaced by a fuel energy flow limit of 3000 megajoules per hour. This is all checked with one meter, but under the old spelling in the technical regulations, teams might have managed to measure the temperature of the fuel-flow meter to change in their favor.
Teams could change the composition of the measured fuel or change measurements that the device performs. The FIA has nipped that in the bud by removing an added footnote in the regulations. It now reads as follows: “Any device, system or procedure that has the purpose of altering the temperature of the fuel flow meter is prohibited.”
Controversies in F1
All in all, the new (motor) regulations do not seem completely watertight. No one yet knows what the pecking order will look like in 2026 and whether other engine suppliers may try to hedge, but certain teams seem to be able to circumvent the regulations slightly. If that really leads to an advantage in Australia, we have the puppets dancing and a protest is not excluded.
In any case, 2026 already promises to be an interesting season. The unpredictability is immense due to the new regulations and the competition will only become more intense if tricks are indeed used. The new cars will appear on the circuit in Barcelona for the first time at the end of January for the first winter test of 2026.
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