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FIA eager to avoid 'court case' after growing F1 technical row
FIA single-seater technical director Nikolas Tombazis says the
governing body is eager to avoid "being sat in courts" after the
first race amid a growing technical row. Over the winter, it was
reported that Mercedes High Performance Powertrains, and
potentially Red Bull Powertrains, had developed a system to
increase the compression ratio of its new 2026 engine to 18:1,
exceeding the prescribed limit of 16:1. An increased compression
ratio will hand any power unit using it a power boost, worth
potentially up to 0.3.s per lap in Melbourne, or 17.4s in race time
across the 58 laps. The controversial aspect is that when the
compression ratio is measured at ambient temperatures in the
pit-lane, it would be at the 16:1 limit, but potentially through
the use of expanding metals, on-track, it could exceed this, but
not be detected. As a result, Ferrari, Honda, and Audi, the other
2026 suppliers, are unhappy, with a crunch meeting taking place on
Thursday, 22nd January, to iron out the row, with one solution
potentially being tighter rules for 2027. Speaking for the first
time about the situation, the FIA's single-seater director Tombazis
believes no protests would be launched in Australia. "Of course,
everyone is extremely passionate and competitive, and when people
are in that state of mind, it does create a bit of blindness to
maybe other arguments," he explained to Reuters at the Autosport
Business Exchange. "Some people, therefore, present their points of
view as the only truth. Unfortunately, things are never completely
simple. That's where we come in to make sure we clarify these
things. "I don't think it's as huge a topic anyway as currently is
being made out in the press." When asked about the potential for a
protest in Melbourne, Tombazis felt no such action would be taken.
"I believe we are going to be OK," he said. "It's a top priority to
make sure we don't have controversies because we want to go racing
and not to be sat in courts and hearings after the first race."
