F1 handed 'punishing' implications warning over Mercedes clever trick

Williams team principal James Vowles has warned against the dire consequences that could severely impact F1 if a late change to the power unit regulations is implemented to counteract Mercedes' trick.

Vowles feels Mercedes and its engine partners, of which Williams is one, along with McLaren and Alpine, would be unjustly "punished" for the ingenuity of High Performance Powertrains and its reading of the new PU regulations for this season.

The row over compression ratios with the PUs has so far cast a shadow over the sport, which, in the worst-case scenario, could lead to all eight Mercedes-powered cars being protested against following the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

It is a situation the FIA is desperate to avoid, resulting in three meetings over the past two weeks between the FIA and the engine manufacturers in an attempt to defuse the situation before the sport heads to Melbourne for the opening race on March 6-8.

Mercedes is adamant that its PUs comply with the regulations, in particular as they have been in constant contact with the FIA over the fact that it has found a way to run compression ratios at 18:1 in hotter racing conditions, compared to the 16:1, as stipulated in the rules when measurements are taken in ambient conditions.

Naturally, Vowles has inside knowledge of the workings of Mercedes and HPP, given his 13 seasons with the team before taking on his current role with Williams.

"They are incredibly good at regulation change, reading the rules exactly as the rules are, and making sure you push the boundaries of engineering," he said, speaking to media, including RacingNews365, at the Bahrain test. "That is exactly what the PU is representing right now for Mercedes.

"My harsh line on it is that the PU that we have in the car is completely compliant with the regulations. It is not a month of work, but several years of work to produce the PU to that level, and we, as a sport, have to take care that this is not a BoP [balance of performance] series.

"This is a meritocracy where the best engineering outcome effectively gets rewarded, not punished as a result.

"I'm sure other teams are pissed off that they weren't able to achieve what Mercedes did, but we also need to take care.

"My hope is that sense prevails and that we, as a sport, recognise that we are here to be a meritocracy, and the best engineering solution wins as a result of it.

"But I maintain that our PU is completely compliant with all the regulations."

Eight cars not on the grid in Australia?

Vowles claims the furore has become "political", with Mercedes fighting its case in one corner, seemingly with the green light from the FIA, while rivals Ferrari, Audi, and Honda argue against.

"There is pressure, but my line and Mercedes line are absolutely identical on this one - great work by everyone across the last two years, not the last few months," he reiterated. "That's two years. That's the result of what you have right now.

"We are here as a sport to make sure we reward innovation that includes, in the past, double diffusers and all the other bits that have come out. This, in my opinion, is just a part of it."

The major concern is that a rule change is implemented, one that would severely handicap four teams, and likely leave them unable to take part in Australia, and, in all likelihood, the race the following weekend in China.

"First of all, they have to come up with a regulation, and good luck with testing power units in the conditions you're trying to run on track," he said.

"The second element of things is what you do when you have effectively changed the rules that now mean, if we are not legal, that there are eight cars not participating on the grid.

"And that, we as a sport have to really think about what the implications of this change are."