A former employee allegedly revealed the operating system of certain special components, which modify their characteristics when the engine is off and on. Ferrari, Audi, and Honda have asked the FIA to investigate

A revolutionary 2026 marked by a new technical cycle begins for Formula 1 in the shadow of the first controversies. The search for “gray areas in the regulations” has always been part of the history of this sport, and before seeing the new power units fired up, the paddock of the top series—which has just gone on vacation after the end of the championship—is already looking at who seems to have found and exploited these gray areas.
According to a rumor reported by Motorsport Magazin, there is a dispute between manufacturer teams over the compression ratio of the cylinders for the new engines. Mercedes and Red Bull (which will produce its own engines for the first time in 2026) have reportedly found a way to circumvent a paragraph of the new technical regulations, point C5.4.3, by bringing the compression ratio within the permitted parameters with the power unit switched off but managing to increase the ratio with the car in action on the track. This trick would allow teams to circumvent the change in the regulations compared to the previous ones, with the ratio changing from 18:1 to 16:1 for the upcoming championship, precisely in order to limit the performance of the thermal power unit in view of the tripled power of the electrical part of the new engines.

FIA investigation—  According to rumors, the federation was alerted to the potential cheating by competing manufacturers Ferrari, Audi, and Honda, who joined forces to request direct intervention by the FIA. The news may have been leaked outside the walls of the suspected teams by a former Mercedes or Red Bull employee who, having moved to another team, disclosed details of the thermal expansion-based circumvention system: the teams had designed internal components capable of expanding when the power unit is operating at high temperatures, thereby reducing the volume of the combustion chamber and increasing the effective compression ratio. The ball is now in the federation’s court. When questioned on the matter, it confirmed that “thermal expansion can affect dimensions at operating temperature, but the current rules do not require measurements at high temperatures. The issue will continue to be discussed in technical meetings with power unit manufacturers. The FIA constantly reviews such issues to ensure fairness and clarity in the regulations. Changes to the technical regulations or measurement procedures may be considered in the future.”