FIA 'verdict issued' on controversial F1 engine loophole

Mekies, Wolff, FIA, socials — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 2026

FIA 'verdict issued' on controversial engine loophole

The first rules controversy of the new regulations is bubbling

Chris Deeley

Saturday 24 January 2026 10:27

It wouldn't be an F1 preseason without weeks and weeks of rules lawyering, would it?

Teams pushing the limits of legality is a tradition as old as the sport, just as complaining vociferously about those innovations on the fringes of the rule book, and the FIA have already sat down with teams this year about exactly that this week.

The innovation this time around is Mercedes and Red Bull apparently being able to run their engines at a higher compression ratio than allowed by the regulations, because the compression rates are currently only measured at ambient temperature.

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Those two manufacturers appear to have employed a way to increase that ratio when the engines are running hot – boosting their performance and providing an advantage over their rivals.

Mercedes and Red Bull engines legal...for now

There has been a predictable outcry over the chicanery, with The Race and others reporting that manufacturers and technical experts agreeing on a method to measure the compression rates at high temperatures at a meeting on Thursday.

However, the meeting ended without any agreement to actually implement that testing – meaning that for the time being, Mercedes and Red Bull's engines are entirely legal.

A format vote in the F1 Commission would be required to actually bring in that new method of testing, a tricky vote for those allied against Mercedes and Red Bull, as the pair's engines are used by six of the 11 teams on the grid.

While changes may well be brought to more accurately measure those compression rates, there's no guarantee that it'll be done quickly, or even this year.

Expect this one to run and run in the background as the season progresses.

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