Ferrari privately think FIA is ‘incompetent’ over its handling of the 2026 Mercedes F1 engine saga

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Ferrari are now designing a possible new way for the FIA to test Mercedes’ engine, as the Scuderia question how the governing body is handling the compression rate saga.

Tensions are rife among the engine manufacturers ahead of the 2026 F1 season, as many of the teams believe Mercedes found a loophole in the new rules. The 2026 F1 regulations saw tweaks to the ICE rules with the increased electrical power, from a 20/80 split to near 50/50.

Ferrari, Honda, Audi and now also Red Bull have raised concerns with the FIA that Mercedes can increase their rate of compression from the allowed 16:1 ratio to 18:1 during operation. Mercedes believe their engine is legal, as it passes the FIA’s tests held in ambient conditions.

Mercedes’ rivals are urging the FIA to rule on the engine trick before the first race of 2026 in Australia. Some teams even want to modify the rule’s wording and test engines at operating temperatures, but it is said that the FIA has cleared Mercedes’ 2026 engine by that criterion.

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Ferrari are designing a new way for the FIA to test Mercedes’ 2026 F1 rules engine

Mercedes’ 2026 engine is set to be discussed in next Wednesday’s F1 Commission meeting, when the 11 teams, the FIA and commercial rights holder FOM assemble in Bahrain. Ferrari, however, privately feel the FIA is ‘incompetent’ in its handling of the Mercedes engine saga.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about F1’s 2026 engine and aero regulations

That is according to Leo Turrini, who reports that Ferrari believe the FIA is looking for a way to ‘please everyone’ with its decision on the Mercedes engine compression ratio saga. But it is an impossible task to achieve, so Ferrari’s hierarchy are looking for a solution of their own.

Ferrari’s leadership have instructed their engine division in Maranello to try to design a new part that the FIA can use to test each team’s V6 engine while it is still hot. The part would be attached to the cylinder head with the car stationary, but it may not be a clear-cut solution.

The Scuderia are concerned that the time it would take to remove the sidepods, the engine cover and the spark plugs before attaching the measurement tool would give teams enough time to sufficiently cool the engine with the dry ice used to cool cars through the air intakes.

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur has ruled out protesting Mercedes’ 2026 F1 engine

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The Mercedes engine saga threatens to rumble on until the FIA issues a clear verdict on the legality of increasing the compression rate in the V6 internal combustion engine (ICE) from 16:1 to 18:1 during operation. F1 has reduced the limit from 18:1 to 16:1 for the 2026 season.

But while Audi, Honda and Ferrari were the first to inform the FIA about Mercedes’ engine trick, Scuderia team principal Fred Vasseur has now ruled out formally protesting the Silver Arrows’ design. Ferrari intend to accept whatever decision the FIA makes next Wednesday.

“We are not there to make a protest,” Vasseur stated, via The Race. “We are there to have a clear regulation and to have everybody with the same understanding of the regulations. But [we] don’t speak about protests.”

Vasseur added: “The most important for me is to get clarity. Everybody can accept that we made mistakes, or we didn’t have the same understanding before. But what we need is to have it clear cut that it’s now ‘like this’. I think it’s what we can expect from next week.”