{"id":64955,"date":"2026-01-22T10:28:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T10:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/?p=64955"},"modified":"2026-01-22T10:31:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T10:31:18","slug":"audi-fia-action-avoid-blatant-2026-f1-engine-advantage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/audi-fia-action-avoid-blatant-2026-f1-engine-advantage\/","title":{"rendered":"Audi want FIA action to avoid ‘blatant’ 2026 F1 engine advantage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Audi Formula 1 chiefs expect the FIA will take action to prevent teams from having a “blatant” power unit advantage in 2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This year, all new regulations have come into effect, splitting performance almost 50\/50 between the V6 internal combustion engine and a revised hybrid system.<\/p>\n

The MGU-H is gone, and the MGU-K significantly increased, taking electrical power up from around 160hp under the previous rules to almost 470hp in 2026.<\/p>\n

Late last year, however, it emerged that Mercedes and potentially Red Bull Ford had discovered a loophole in the new F1 regulations.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Mercedes new 2026 F1 livery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This centred around the combustion ratio in the V6 ICE, which has been lowered to 16:1 for 2026, but reports indicated those manufacturers had found a way to increase the ratio back to the old 18:1 that was run under the previous rules.<\/p>\n

To do this, the engine is designed to run at the permitted 16:1 ratio in ambient temperatures, meeting the FIA requirement, but then that ratio increases as the engine runs hotter while on track.<\/p>\n

If achieved, this could give teams more horsepower and improved fuel efficiency, two vital performance areas in the 2026 F1 power unit rules.<\/p>\n

As a result, Audi, Honda and Ferrari have been vocal in calling for the FIA to clamp down on such trickery, fearing it could cost them throughout the upcoming season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it’s real, it is certainly a significant gap in terms of performance and lap time, and that would make a difference when we come to competition,\u201d Audi chief Mattia Binotto explained via\u00a0F1i.com.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Audi
Audi chief Mattia Binotto<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Audi technical director James Key was stronger in his call for action from F1’s governing body, adding: \u201cI think if it’s sort of bypassing the intent of the regulations, then it has to be in some way controlled.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe trust the FIA to do that, because no one wants to sit a season out if you’ve got a blatant advantage that you can do nothing [about] with a homologated power unit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think for us, hopefully, the FIA will make the right decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response, FIA technical experts will meet today (22 January) to ensure the intent of the regulations is administered correctly.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs is customary with the introduction of new regulations, discussions on the 2026 iteration covering power unit and chassis are ongoing,\u201d a statement read.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs always, the FIA assesses the situation in order to make sure the regulations are understood and applied in the same manner between all the participants.\u201d<\/p>\n

With meaningful action unlikely to be taken until 2027, however, Binotto has low expectations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t think there will be clarity or compromise,\u201d said the former Ferrari chief.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe meeting is more to continue to discuss how can we improve or develop a methodology for the future to measure the compression ratios in operating conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday we are doing it [measuring] in cool conditions with the engine disassembled – so you may wait until the end of the season to know if you are compliant.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s simply we are trying, all together, to really develop a methodology where we can measure it in real time while the car is running.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy hope in that meeting is not clarity on the regulation itself, but more to define a methodology for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Audi Formula 1 chiefs expect the FIA will take action to prevent teams from having a “blatant” power unit advantage in 2026. This year, all new regulations have come into effect, splitting performance almost 50\/50 between the V6 internal combustion engine and a revised hybrid system. The MGU-H is gone, and the MGU-K significantly increased,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":64957,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[301,341,507,295,509,508,354],"class_list":{"0":"post-64955","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-audi","9":"tag-f1","10":"tag-fia","11":"tag-formula-1","12":"tag-mattia-binotto","13":"tag-mercedes","14":"tag-red-bull"},"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64955"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64963,"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64955\/revisions\/64963"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insideracing.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}