Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has accused rival Formula 1 manufacturers of ganging up against his team to put pressure on the governing FIA to change the engine rules, but said it would make no difference.<\/p>\n
The Austrian was speaking at pre-season testing in Bahrain on Thursday, a day after the FIA announced an e-vote proposal to close a suspected loophole by proposing a change from August.<\/p>\n
Rivals have accused Mercedes, who supply four teams, including champions McLaren, of exploiting a grey area to gain performance through compression ratios and thermal expansion of engine components.<\/p>\n
New engines, no DRS and other important changes to Formula 1 in 2026<\/a><\/p>\n New engines, new regulations and an 11-team grid are just some of the changes in Formula 1 this season. Get up to speed with what is new in F1 ahead of the Australian Grand Prix.\u00a0<\/p>\n The compression rate in each cylinder of the 1.6-litre V6 hybrid turbo engines has been limited to a 16:1, down from 18:1 under the previous set of rules.<\/p>\n But the current rules, specifically Article C5.4.3 of the regulations, say compression ratios will be tested “at ambient temperature”.<\/p>\n Mercedes is rumoured to have circumvented this rule by reportedly using materials that can expand in high temperatures, increasing the compression ratio of the engine, but will pass the inspection when cooled down.<\/p>\n The e-vote, which will be settled next week, is to change the rule from August 1, stating that the testing of compression ratios will be done in ambient conditions and at an operating temperature of at 130 degrees Celsius.<\/p>\n Wolff told reporters the pre-season favourites would accept the rule change but questioned the way it had been brought about.<\/p>\n