The crucial F1 meetings happening today that could shape the 2026 season

The second week of F1 testing is underway as teams complete their final runs in their 2026 cars before the season opener in Australia.

Two crucial meetings have also been scheduled for today which could have huge implications on the upcoming season.

The first meeting set to take place will be held by the Power Unit Advisory Committee (PUAC) along with the FIA and F1's five engine manufacturers, Mercedes, Honda, Red Bull Power Trains, Ferrari and Audi.
 

It's understood the meeting will look to resolve the engine controversy that has surrounded Mercedes in recent weeks.

Before the season has really started with speculation that Mercedes has found a loophole in the new engine regulations that could hand them a key performance advantage over their rivals in 2026.

The Silver Arrows are believed to have found a way to deliver a higher compression ratio limit than the rules state when their new power unit is running at full temperature.

Crucially, Mercedes is said to conform to the 16:1 ratio limit when the FIA checks are carried out.

Day 1 of Bahrain pre-season testing continues today - follow our LIVE Blog for all the latest updates throughout the session.

Rivals Ferrari, Honda, Audi and now Red Bull have been pushing for a change to the regulations - a move which Toto Wolff has said would 'screw' Mercedes.

Speaking during the first test in Bahrain last week Toto Wolff said: “I'm a little bit more confused in the recent weeks about how it came to the point now that it suddenly became a topic, because until last Friday, I was given the impression that things wouldn't change,” Wolff told reporters on the first day of pre-season testing in Bahrain.

“It's not only the teams, you need the votes from the governing body, and you need the votes from the commercial rights holder, and if they decided to share an opinion and an agenda, then you're screwed.

“I think that the kind of lobbying from the other engine manufacturers has massively ramped up over the last few months. I mean, secret meetings, secret letters to the FIA, which obviously there's no such thing as a secret at this point. And that has brought it to this situation.”

Race start procedures being examined

The second meeting set to take place on Wednesday regards concerns around race starts in 2026.

During the first round of testing it emerged that race starts have been made more difficult with this generation of power unit.

Drivers now need to rev the engine very for longer periods, sometimes as long as 10 seconds, in order to get the turbo in the right window for a launch.

Most teams believe drivers need more time than is currently permitted before lights out and want there to be an intervention from the governing body, however Ferrari are understood to be opposed to any rule changes.

The final days of testing continue this week in Bahrain. Check out the latest results from today's session here.