{"id":38924,"date":"2026-02-06T06:05:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T11:05:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=38924"},"modified":"2026-02-06T06:25:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T11:25:06","slug":"f1-mercedes-engine-could-be-dealt-massive-blow-by-rule-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2026\/02\/06\/f1-mercedes-engine-could-be-dealt-massive-blow-by-rule-change\/","title":{"rendered":"F1: Mercedes engine could be dealt massive blow by rule change"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest chapter of the controversial Mercedes engine saga<\/a> is being written. After weeks and months of discussions between the FIA and various manufacturers, an agreement is reportedly on the verge of being reached.<\/p>\n

The FIA is set to implement measures which, if passed in a vote, could eliminate the advantage Mercedes have worked so hard to obtain from their engine solution.<\/p>\n

Over the last few weeks, Toto Wolff has voiced his disgust at the accusations and complaints made by other manufacturers. Unfortunately for the Austrian, this has not stopped rivals from moving to take action against the Mercedes power unit.<\/p>\n

Within the next few weeks, more information will emerge on Mercedes being potentially out-maneuvered by rivals.<\/p>\n

The key in the Mercedes engine dispute<\/h2>\n

In brief, the Mercedes power unit<\/a> is being disputed because of a mechanism that allows the engine to increase its compression ratio above the 16:1 limit.<\/p>\n

At the core of this issue is temperatures. Traditionally, engine compression ratio is measured at room temperature – and under these conditions, the Mercedes engine is within the 16:1 limit.<\/p>\n

However, Mercedes have developed an engine that can increase its compression ratio when at higher temperatures. This means the power unit increases its ratio (and thus generates more horsepower) when out on track. All the while, it still meets the legal parameters in static tests.<\/p>\n

According to rival manufacturers, this interpretation of the regulations should never have been accepted.<\/p>\n

Ferrari, Honda and Audi<\/a> have protested very strongly against this engine solution. Fundamentally, their argument is that the regulations explicitly state 16:1 as the compression ratio limit – whether on track or in the garage.<\/p>\n

From their perspective, using a trick to bypass the maximum limit out on track (even while passing static tests) is a clear violation of the rules.<\/p>\n

Mercedes, meanwhile, insist they have simply found a loophole that other engine suppliers overlooked. Since they first started developing this technology, the Silver Arrows were in constant dialogue with the FIA to ensure its legality.<\/p>\n

Indeed, the FIA have previously stated<\/a> the Mercedes power unit is within the bounds of the regulations until now.<\/p>\n

However, recent developments are understood to have changed the playing field. A new methodology is close to being introduced, which would essentially erase the advantage Mercedes have spent so long cultivating. (cont. on next page).<\/em><\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

FIA set to introduce new measurements<\/h4>\n

As outlined previously, Mercedes can increase their engine’s compression ratio thanks to clever use of thermal expansion.<\/p>\n

This allows the Brackley-based team to meet the FIA’s static tests and simultaneously surpass the 16:1 limit when the W17 is circulating on track.<\/p>\n

Estimates about how much lap-time this trick could unlock are varied at this stage – even Mercedes cannot be fully certain of the impact this solution will have. Still, the most conservative calculations suggest this idea is worth at least three tenths per lap.<\/p>\n

Mercedes clearly believe this innovation is important enough to take a stand against other manufacturers – who are also convinced this issue is worth going through the trouble of issuing complaints to the FIA.<\/p>\n

In any case, as revealed by Autosprint<\/a>, the compromise now on the table could change the playing field. The new proposal to satisfy the complaints across the field is to change how the compression ratio tests are conducted.<\/p>\n

Rather than carrying out measurements in static tests at room temperatures, manufacturers and the FIA are moving for compression ratio to be measured at high temperatures – i.e. by turning on the engine in the garage.<\/p>\n

This would mean that any engine found to exceed the 16:1 limit, regardless of temperature, could be detected. Therefore, any ambiguity that could have arisen under the previous stationary checks would be addressed.<\/p>\n

Of course, this new scrutineering measure will not be well received by Toto Wolff’s team. They have invested a huge amount of time and effort into pioneering a technology they believed was fully permissible.<\/p>\n

However, with the other engine suppliers making their opposition known, action is set to be taken. Fundamentally, the FIA does not want to enter the first race in Australia with the risk of a wide-scale protest<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It is understood that this proposal could be implemented before the first round in Australia. All manufacturers, aside from Mercedes, are reportedly in favour.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

Victory for Ferrari, Honda and Audi – Red Bull decisive<\/h4>\n

The battle lines for this dispute have been relatively clear until now. On one side is Mercedes, who have resolutely defended the legality of their power unit.<\/p>\n

Only last week, Toto Wolff<\/a> accused rivals of organising “secret meetings”<\/em> to undermine his team’s power unit. The passion behind Wolff’s comments highlight the scale and seriousness of this issue.<\/p>\n

Moreover, his words could be interpreted as a sign of genuine concern that the Mercedes engine could be compromised.<\/p>\n

As previously reported here on LWOS, Mercedes are ready to escalate on this issue<\/a>. Should the teams vote in favour of this new methodology, thereby hurting the German power unit, there could be swift retaliation from the Brackley-based outfit.<\/p>\n

Although nothing is clear at this stage, there is definitely reason to watch this space.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, there has been consistent opposition from Ferrari, Honda and Audi<\/a>. These manufacturers have been adamant that the Mercedes engine trick is not compliant with the regulations.<\/p>\n

During their 2026 launches, all three engine suppliers (albeit to varying degrees) hinted at their expectation in reaching a satisfactory resolution with the FIA.<\/p>\n

However, the wild card in this saga has been Red Bull<\/a>. The Austrian squad is expected to vote in favour of the proposed change to measure compression ratios at high temperatures.<\/p>\n

Should Red Bull follow through, it would mean 4\/5 manufacturers (a qualified majority) can officially facilitate this regulatory adjustment.<\/p>\n

Red Bull have also been developing this compression ratio trick. They reportedly learned of this solution from an engineer they signed from Mercedes to their new powertrains department.<\/p>\n

With that said, Laurent Mekies’ team<\/a> are several steps behind the Silver Arrows in developing this idea.<\/p>\n

As a result, Red Bull would lose relatively little if this loophole is addressed. Of course, voting in favour would hurt Mercedes in the process.<\/p>\n

Main photo: Jiri Krenek (Mercedes F1 Media Archive)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The latest chapter of the controversial Mercedes engine saga is being written. After weeks and months of discussions between the FIA and various manufacturers, an agreement is reportedly on the verge of being reached. The FIA is set to implement measures which, if passed in a vote, could eliminate the advantage Mercedes have worked so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":38928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[2576,2582,84,2598,121],"class_list":["post-38924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-audi-f1-team","tag-f1-2026-season","tag-ferrari","tag-honda-f1-team","tag-mercedes"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38924"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38932,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38924\/revisions\/38932"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}