F1 team principal issues update on 'can of worms' vote to stop Mercedes

mercedes, george russell, toto wolff — Photo: © IMAGO

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F1 team principal issues update on 'can of worms' vote to stop Mercedes

Everyone's talking about the Mercedes engine

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Thursday 12 February 2026 08:27

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As noise intensifies over a vote to ban the Mercedes engine, one F1 team principal has delivered an emphatic verdict on the saga.

Unless you're adverse to those three little words (geometric compression ratio), then you'll be aware Mercedes have discovered a loophole in the 2026 engine regulations that allows them to run at a higher rate on track.

Mercedes have managed to get their power units to run at a compression rate of around 18:1 at higher temperatures, but, here comes the snag, the regulations for this year have been lowered to 16:1.

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However, the rate can only be measured at ambient temperatures, where Mercedes comply with that all important 16:1 ratio.

What's drawn the ire of rival power unit manufacturers is the advantage this engine trick could give Mercedes, rumoured to be in the region of a quarter of a second a lap.

Will rival teams protest Mercedes power unit?

As pre-season testing gets underway in Bahrain, talk is mounting that rivals Red Bull, Audi, Honda and Ferrari want a vote to ban their engine.

FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis wants the matter resolved before the start of the season, and does not want to see the dispute battled in the courtroom.

Williams team principal James Vowles, whose team will use Mercedes engines in 2026, went further and believes that a vote could 'open a can of worms' in F1.

"Strangely, no, I'm not anxious [that other manufacturers will somehow vote through a change]," he said to the media during pre-season testing in Bahrain.

"The power unit that Mercedes have produced - and, remember, I've been with Mercedes for 20-odd years now, I know them incredibly well - is compliant with the regulations. Full stop in that regard.

"So if we, as a sport, decide to do something against that you start to open up a can of worms in my opinion on where else do we start voting where we are not happy where there's something that's intelligent and well thought through."

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F1 Mercedes Williams James Vowles