The FIA\u2019s single seater director Nikolas Tombazis says the governing body hopes to reach a pre-Australian Grand Prix solution to the ongoing engine saga.<\/p>\n
This update comes after Cadillac F1 CEO Dan Towriss claimed that all rival engine manufacturers are united against Mercedes<\/a>. It is a dispute which centres around compression ratio with the new Formula 1 engines, with reports having pointed to Mercedes as a manufacturer which has exploited a loophole.<\/p>\n FIA working towards Mercedes engine solution<\/p>\n Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for news you can trust.<\/p>\n New 50\/50 biofuel and electric engines arrived in Formula 1 for 2026. Reports over the off-season claimed that two engine manufacturers had found a way to exploit the compression ratio wording in the new regulations.<\/p>\n Mercedes and Red Bull Powertrains Ford were widely named as the two manufacturers in question, with subsequent reports suggesting that Red Bull had joined the opposition to Mercedes.<\/p>\n Cadillac F1 CEO Dan Towriss strengthened that claim by stating that \u201cunanimous views outside of Mercedes\u201d had been reached as to the action desired from rival manufacturers, as talks continue with the FIA.<\/p>\n Tombazis, speaking in an FIA video alongside the organisation\u2019s single seater technical director, Jan Monchaux, explained that lowering the engine compression ratio was a condition to bring new manufacturers into the sport, and give them a chance to compete against the established names.<\/p>\n With the regulations defining a 16:1 compression ratio, measured in cold, static condition, Tombazis admitted that \u201cvery clever\u201d engineers have potentially found a way to increase that when the engine is running hot.<\/p>\n Tombazis stressed that the FIA wants competition on the track, not \u201cin the courtroom or in the stewards room\u201d, with a solution targeted before the season begins in Melbourne.<\/p>\n Audi and Red Bull Ford are the new power unit manufacturers for F1 2026, joining Mercedes, Ferrari and Honda, the Japanese manufacturer having been tempted to reverse its Formula 1 exit by the new engine regulations. Honda would partner up with Aston Martin.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst of all, compression ratio is just a bit of very, very basic four stroke engine, which is what most road cars have had for the last 100 plus years, and what most racing cars have,\u201d Tombazis began.<\/p>\n \u201cAn engine where there\u2019s a piston, or many pistons, moving up and down and turning around a crankshaft, and when they move, the fuel and the air comes into the engine, and the piston moves down, then it moves back up again without producing any power. The other cylinders are pushing it up, and at that moment, it compresses the fuel and the gas, the air, into very, very small volume.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, how much fuel has gone in and air, to how much it actually compresses to, that proportion is the compression ratio.<\/p>\n \u201cThe more high that is\u2026 And then after that, you have a combustion of that mixture that pushes down and produces the power. So the higher that compression ratio is, the more, generally speaking, efficient the engine is.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, you can\u2019t overdo it. If you go too high, then you start having other issues, like it will get too hot, and then it will pre-combust, and that\u2019s what we call knock. Sometimes you see that on your road car, maybe the older ones. If you\u2019re in a very high gear and you\u2019re going very slowly, you hear this knocking sound.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, it gets quite complicated to design those super sophisticated engines with that number being very high. And of course, we wanted, with these regulations, early days, to invite newcomers. And I think we\u2019ve been quite successful.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have five PU manufacturers at the moment, and one on the way of coming into the sport [General Motors]. If we had not done those changes, I think we probably would have two by now, and we\u2019d have only two, and that would have been a problem.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, because all of these newcomers have started way behind the established ones, we have to create some ways that would enable these newcomers to join the sport on a fair playing field, because otherwise, they would have been way behind.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd as there\u2019s a cost cap, as there\u2019s limitations, they would have always been struggling to catch up.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s still going to be massively challenging for them. It\u2019s not an easy task, and that\u2019s why part of the condition for these guys to come in was also to create some simplifications, some cost reduction also, and the compression ratio was one of those.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was one of the reasons we went from what used to be a limit of 18:1, which, frankly, was almost not a limit, because you could hardly reach that level, to 16:1, which is a bit of a compromise.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd of course, as these engineers are very clever and always pushing for an advantage, some have found ways to potentially increase it when the engine is running hot, and that is the discussion we are having now.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, we\u2019ve spent a lot of time with Jan discussing how we solve those issues, and I think our intention is to solve them for the start of the season.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t want to have controversies. We want people to be competing on the track and not in the courtroom, or in the stewards room, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Latest on the engine saga via PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n Cadillac F1: Rivals united against Mercedes on engine saga<\/a><\/p>\n Mercedes cars parked? Zak Brown responds to worst-case Australian GP scenario<\/a><\/p>\n It was put to Tombazis and Monchaux that considering the scale of changes made to the regulations, even if the compression ratios saga is settled, another talking point could flare up in a different area.<\/p>\n With teams trying to uncover ways to find an advantage over the competition, it was suggested that the FIA must be especially vigilant.<\/p>\n Tombazis responded: \u201cI think it\u2019s also a numbers game we need to explain.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, perfection is if there\u2019s no discussion about any aspect of the regulation, if everything is completely as intended, no interpretations, everyone understands perfectly. That is our objective. That\u2019s what we strive for. And I think we\u2019ve made a lot of progress in that.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the regulations change a lot, a lot of unforeseen circumstances come about.<\/p>\n \u201cWe work a lot with the teams. When the PU manufacturers have meetings.<\/p>\n \u201cEach team has maybe 200 engineers or so amongst the 1000 people working for the car, sometimes a bit more. So we have maybe 2000 engineers in the teams, and maybe another, I don\u2019t know, 1000 or so in the engine and PU manufacturers.<\/p>\n \u201cSo it\u2019s invaluable [sic] that amongst those many thousands, to the 10 or so, that sometimes they will come up with something that nobody has thought [of].<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s also, I think, quite significant to think that you have 11 teams and five PU manufacturers, and not all of those identify these weak areas, which means that you have 200 people in one team, and maybe out of those 200 people, nobody has thought there\u2019s a little area to use.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I\u2019m trying to say is that it\u2019s a numbers game and a statistics game, and it\u2019s impossible when we have new rules, not to have such areas of discussion. That\u2019s always been the case.<\/p>\n \u201cI think what has changed is that we are determined to make this a championship of competition between the best drivers, the best engineers, the teams, but not a championship of rule interpretation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want it to be a championship of engineering prowess as well as driving prowess, but not actually just who\u2019s a smarter rule interpreter.\u201d<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n