Cadillac boss Graeme Lowdon has declared his team will be running a "fully legal engine" in the 2026 season, after the alleged Mercedes engine trick controversy.
Over the winter, it was reported that Mercedes High Performance Powertrains, and potentially Red Bull Powertrains, had found a way to increase the engine compression ratio beyond the new 16:1 limit when the cars were out on track.
Crucially, however, when the engines would be measured at ambient temperature in the pit-lane, the compression ratio would be back at the 16:1 limit, with a higher ratio leading to a power increase.
It was estimated that around the Albert Park lap of the Melbourne season-opener, the trick, if used, could be worth as much as 0.3s per lap, or 17.4s in race time across the 58 laps.
RBPT boss Ben Hodgkinson did not completely deny that his team were running such a trick upon the Red Bull launch last week, with the Mercedes car set for launch on Thursday, January 22nd.
For the newcomer team Cadillac, it is to be powered by a customer Ferrari engine, and has completed a shakedown at Silverstone.
Speaking after this, team principal Lowdon observed that he was confident the power unit from Maranello was "fully legal."
"What I'm very confident and happy about is we have a fully legal engine," Lowdon told Sky Sports News.
"With these engines, the combustion is not allowed to take place at a compression ratio above 16 to 1.
"Without going into too many details, we know that Ferrari have completely followed the rules where that stands. That gives us a lot of confidence.
"In terms of performance, we work and support our power unit partner to the absolute maximum. We're very happy with the relationship.
"I can't really talk for other people's power units or how they've interpreted the regulation. But to me, it's extremely clear, it's there in black and white."
"I've worked with Ferrari a number of times before; they're great partners. It's an iconic name in Formula 1. All of the people in that team are real racers as well, and we welcome them into the Cadillac Formula 1 team."
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