The (first) controversy of 2026 The season has not yet started when controversies are already brewing over the compression ratio of the Mercedes power unit, amid doubts and suspicions that already involve the Federation called to intervene to resolve the issue – one way or another – before the Australian GP to avoid potential consequences in court. Also admitting for the first time the existence of a problem is Nikolas Tombazis, the expert technical delegate of the FIA who is also responsible for all the regulations for single-seater competitions managed by Place de la Concorde. The words of the FIA technical manager In a “question and answer” video with the fans, published on the federation’s official YouTube channel, the Greek engineer explained what the compression ratio consists of, why it was decided to lower the limit from the old 18:1 to the current 16:1 and what the controversies of the last month, triggered by the article in the German specialized newspaper Motorsport Magazin, arise instead. “Of course – explains in the FIA video the former technical director of Ferrari, Nikolas Tombazis, in the FIA since March 2018 (after a brief and unsuccessful period in Manor-Marussia) – the engineers who work in Formula 1 are very intelligent and always try to gain an advantage. Some have found a way to potentially increase the compression ratio when the engine is hot. And this is precisely the topic we are discussing now”. The head of the Federation, however, tried to reassure the fans, confirming the intention to close (at least this) situation before the start of the championship: “We spent a lot of time with Jan (Monchaux, former Alfa Romeo and Sauber engineer, in the FIA from 2024, ed.) discussing how to resolve these problems. It is obviously our intention to resolve them before the start of the season. We don’t want controversies. We want people to compete on the track and not in court or in the stewards’ room. FIA. And that’s what we’re trying to do. I imagine that given the nature of the significant changes made to both the chassis and the power unit, we can expect the next hot topic to be in different areas.”
