The FIA have now provided a ‘hint’ on whether Mercedes and Red Bull’s engine loophole will be banned

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Mercedes and Red Bull have already caused controversy amongst their rivals before the 2026 cars have even hit the track.

Many are wondering what the pecking order will look like in 2026, as the new technical regulations are set to shake up the field. Several teams have already tested components ahead of the official shakedown in Barcelona at the end of January.

No one truly knows where anyone is at this stage, but rumours have suggested that some teams have an advantage. Mercedes and Red Bull have found a ‘loophole’ in the regulations for their 2026 engines.

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The FIA have set a compression ratio of 16:1 during operation, but Mercedes and Red Bull have found a way to increase this to 18:1, thus producing more horsepower.

This has not sat well with Ferrari, Honda and Audi, especially as rumours suggest that Mercedes already have the fastest power unit for 2026. The three manufacturers may be on the back foot this season, but perhaps not for long.

The FIA have provided a ‘hint’ that Mercedes and Red Bull’s 2026 engine loophole will be banned

It is not uncommon for F1 teams to find ways to gain an advantage with new regulations, as seen in 2009 with Brawn, Williams and Toyota’s double diffuser. Instead of banning it, the FIA made it legal, so everyone else copied the design and nullified their advantage.

It is a similar situation in 2026, in that one manufacturer dominating the sport is bad for commercial and financial reasons. Subsequently, the FIA have hinted that Mercedes and Red Bull’s loophole will be banned at some point, as journalist Julianne Cerasoli notes.

Asked if the trick would be banned, she said on her YouTube channel: “Look, I believe so. I believe that this is the kind of solution that Formula 1 will find. Some people asked: ‘Isn’t it unfair?’ No, it’s not unfair.

“It’s what happened, it’s the pure essence of Formula 1. The FIA have already given me a hint, saying: ‘Look, someone read something in the regulations that wasn’t what we wrote.’

“Why do I say that the environment is such that this will be banned over time? I don’t know when, but they come to some kind of agreement, because absolute dominance is very bad commercially for Formula 1.

“Today, there is this notion that: ‘OK, I want to win, but I want everyone else to win, because if everyone wins, my piece of the pie will get even bigger. Let’s increase the pie for everyone, because my piece of the pie will get bigger if that happens.”

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Are Mercedes and Red Bull’s 2026 cars legal?

Naturally, rival teams are questioning the legality of Mercedes and Red Bull’s cars with their loophole. Their customers could have a significant advantage over the field.

The ‘most widely accepted’ theory about the loophole is regarding Red Bull’s position of the piston. Their rivals believe that they have found a way to move it closer to the cylinder head, but technical director Ben Hodgkinson says that the car is legal.

Likewise, Gary Anderson says Mercedes and Red Bull are not ‘cheating’ with the loophole. He says that it is there for all the teams to ‘exploit’.

But that has not stopped Ferrari from lodging a potential protest at the season opener in Melbourne. They will find out, if at all, how far behind they are during pre-season testing.