Audi have also urged the FIA to step in over potential regulatory loopholes in the 2026 engine rules.
Following the launch ahead of the new season, Audi have joined the growing chorus of teams calling on the FIA for a more rigorous management of the grey areas within the 2026 power unit regulations. Teams continue to apply pressure on the governing body to provide clarity in response to rumours suggesting that two engine manufacturers may have exploited loopholes contained in the new rules.
Teams are naturally showing a certain level of concern about the prospect of a competitive advantage, even a marginal one, effectively being locked in at the start of the season. In the past, there have already been instances of disputes over regulations that featured exploitable grey areas.
For 2026, the compression ratio has been reduced from 18:1 to 16:1. Compression has a significant impact on engine performance, making this aspect particularly critical if not tightly regulated. This change was introduced because the FIA want to level out performance between manufacturers and improve the reliability of the new power units.
However, rumours surrounding Mercedes and Red Bull engines suggest that the two teams may have acted in a way that exploits loopholes within the 2026 engine regulations. According to these reports, the two manufacturers would have designed engines capable of complying with the limit during static cold checks, but which, thanks to the thermal expansion of materials, would exceed that limit during on-track operation at high temperatures, gaining an advantage in terms of power and efficiency. For this reason, some teams, including Ferrari and Audi, have asked the Federation to carry out checks and ensure that no team benefits from unfair advantages.
Audi’s request
James Key, Audi’s technical director, speaking during the presentation of the 2026 car, stated: “We have to trust the FIA to make the right decisions in this case. These are new regulations. A level playing field has to be guaranteed.”
“If someone invents a clever diffuser and you say that it is not the right thing to do, nobody else can have it, but you are allowed to keep it for the rest of the year. It makes no sense. We would never accept that.”
As reported by motorsport.com, Key was referring here to a controversial case from 2009. That year, three teams – Toyota, Williams and Brawn – designed the so-called “double diffusers”. By introducing them for the season, they effectively exploited the wording of the regulations governing how the reduced diffuser dimensions would be measured.
Adrian Newey, who was Red Bull’s technical director at the time, openly stated that the refusal by then FIA president Max Mosley to immediately ban the diffusers was largely a political move. According to the current Aston Martin team principal, Mosley had taken offence because McLaren and Ferrari had joined the Formula One Teams Association to oppose his regime. His refusal to outlaw those diffusers was therefore a way of disadvantaging the two teams that were opposing him, as both had failed to identify the loophole.
“I think that if, in some way, the intent of the regulations is being circumvented, then it has to be controlled somehow,” Key continued. “That’s why we trust the FIA and hope that it will act [to ensure fairness], because nobody wants to spend an entire season watching a clear advantage that, once the engine is homologated, can no longer be addressed.”
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