FIA clamps down on Mercedes and Red Bull engine trickery
The FIA has banned a deployment trick used by Mercedes and Red Bull to gain performance in qualifying.
FIA clamps down on Mercedes and Red Bull qualifying trickery
The FIA has outlawed battery deployment techniques utilised by the Mercedes and Red Bull powered teams to gain an advantage in Formula 1 qualifying, Crash.net has learned.
Any new era of F1 regulations is going to quickly expose loopholes when cars take to the track, and the 2026 changes have been no different.
The highly complex power unit rules mandate that a graduated power reduction must be followed in order to prevent cars from suddenly slowing, and posing a significant safety risk.
However, this can be circumvented by shutting down the MGU-K, using an emergency override to dump all of the energy. Instead of losing 50kW per second when approaching the line, this hands drivers an advantage of between 50-100kW.
The compromise is that the MGU-K is then locked out for 60 seconds, something that carries no penalty after completing a qualifying lap, when drivers are lapping at significantly reduced speeds.
This was used in both Australia and Japan by most teams using the referenced power units on the run to the line at the end of the lap.
Crash.net understands that the FIA has now written to teams, informing that this function in the SECU (Standard Electronics Control Unit) software, is solely to be used for its originally intended purpose, and not as a systematic way to gain performance, with qualifying specifically referenced.
While the performance gained by using this trick was minimal, it would not have been taken advantage of were there not a tangible gain to be had.
Japan saw issues created by using this method exposed, with Alex Albon needing to stop on track due to complications following a qualifying simulation, while others were similarly compromised due to being locked out of MGU-K use.
Crash.net understands that the lockout period will remain in place, with telemetry easily able to identify whether there was a genuine emergency situation, providing a deterrent for any team continuing to push the boundaries.
Ferrari was particularly vocal in its concerns over the technique becoming commonplace, despite conceding it to be legal as per the wording of the regulations.
Sam joined Crash.net in February 2026 with extensive experience in motorsport media, having covered numerous championships around the world.
