Impact of controversial engine loophole ‘impossible to know’

Max Verstappen has distanced himself from the debate around the F1 2026 power units ahead of a planned FIA meeting this week.

Even before the first laps have been turned in anger this season, there is controversy in the Formula 1 paddock with some engine manufacturers, reportedly Red Bull and Mercedes, said to have found a technical loophole that would give them an advantage over the chasing pack.

Max Verstappen: I drive the car

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Formula 1’s engine regulations are changing this season, with a new power unit formula that runs on sustainable fuel with an increase in the electrification that sees the engines powered in a 50/50 split with the internal combustion engine.

But ahead of the opening behind-closed-doors test in Barcelona on 26 January, there are reports that some manufacturers may have found a loophole in the wording of the regulations.

One of those is said to be Red Bull, who this season has designed their own in-house power unit with its Red Bull Powertrains division with input from Ford.

It’s an argument that Verstappen is not willing to get into, after all, he is just the race-car driver.

“It’s impossible to know,” he told Bloomberg of the engine controversy when asked about its impact.

“I mean, everyone is just trying everything they can.

“From our side, and especially from my side, I mean, I have to focus on the driving, I’m not there to be the engine technician and explain everything in detail to you.

“At the end of the day, it’s also something between the FIA and the engine manufacturers to sort out.

“I drive the car, and I trust that, from our side, we always try to do our very best to get the most performance out of the engine.”

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A controversial beginning to the all-new F1 2026 engine regs?

Formula 1 teams are well known for finding the grey areas in the regulations, hiring the brightest technical – and legal – minds to do just that.

It means even though Formula 1’s powers-that-be believe they closed all the loopholes, some engine manufacturers have reportedly found already found one.

Article C.5.4.3. of the 2026 Technical Regulations states that: “No cylinder of the engine may have a geometric compression ratio higher than 16.0.

“The procedure to measure this value will be detailed by each PU Manufacturer and executed at ambient temperature.

“This procedure must be approved by the FIA Technical Department and included in the PU Manufacturer homologation dossier.”

However, it’s being reported that the wording has resulted in two of the power unit manufacturers, reportedly Red Bull Powertrains and Mercedes, interpreting this as ensuring this compression ratio is met when being measured in ambient conditions, but otherwise running at a higher ratio when on track, potentially resulting in slightly higher power output.

The FIA is set to meet with technical experts later this week to address the differing interpretations of wording.

Red Bull Powertrains director Ben Hodgkinson spoke about the ratio when the team revealed its livery for the F1 2026 season, adamant that while Red Bull was on the “very limit”, he is confident it is legal.

“I think there’s some nervousness from various power unit manufacturers that there might be some clever engineering going on in some teams,” Hodgkinson said at the team’s season launch in Detroit.

“I’m not quite sure how much of it to listen to, to be honest. I’ve been doing this a very long time, and it’s almost just noise. You just have to play your own race really.

“I know what we’re doing, and I’m confident that what we’re doing is legal. Of course, we’ve taken it right to the very limit of what the regulations allow. I’d be surprised if everyone hasn’t done that.

“My honest feeling is that it’s a lot of noise about nothing. I expect everyone’s going to be sitting at 16, that’s what I really expect.”

“From a purely technical point of view the compression ratio limit is too low,” he continued.

“We have the technology to make the combustion fast enough, so the compression ratio is way too low. We could make 18:1 work with the speed of combustion that we’ve managed to get, which means there’s performance in every tenth of a ratio that you can get.

“Every manufacturer should really be aiming at 15.999 as far as they dare when it’s measured.”

The F1 2026 season marks the first championship that Red Bull, and sister team Racing Bulls, will be powered by its own in-house engine created by Red Bull Powertrains.

Verstappen has made it clear that only “time will tell” how the Milton Keynes squad performs.

“I mean, we don’t know,” he added to Sky Sports News. “The only thing that I do know is that everyone is giving it everything that they have.

“We are trying to push ahead. We’re really trying to maximise everything, but it’s not going to be easy. We know that.”

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