A dispute regarding the design of the fuel flow meters used by Formula 1 cars has broken out in Texas ahead of the United States Grand Prix - with a lawsuit lodged in court.
Sentronics Holdings Ltd, a British company, has filed a federal lawsuit in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas against Allengra GmbH, a German market rival, alleging that Allengra has infringed its patent in the United States, which covers Sentronics right to be known as the inventors of a fuel flow meter which uses phase-modulated ultrasonic signals through a fluid path.
The patent, number 11,391.609 was applied for in April 2017, with the US Patent Office issuing it on July 19th, 2022.
That same month, Allengra revealed its own fuel flow meter, with the two companies then going head-to-head when the FIA opened up its tender processes to be the exclusive fuel flow meter supplier to every F1 team in 2023.
Allengra ultimately won the contract for the 2026-2030 period, but Sentronics has now claimed that Allengra is infringing its patent by using the same phase-modulation technology.
Sentronics has lodged the federal lawsuit in court, and is seeking damages and rulings against Allengra, and has demanded a trial by jury.
In the filings, seen by RacingNews365, Sentronics alleges that its own lab testing in 2024 proved that Allengra's system is using its patented design, and that despite being "on notice" of the potential patent infringement since August 2025 "when Sentronics served formal written notice of the infringement, Allengra’s continued infringement of the ‘609 Patent in the United States is therefore willful."
In a further claim, Sentronics's filings allege that Allengra has used the pedigree of an F1 tender to earn further contracts and relationships in other key markets.
Sentronics is not seeking to prohibit the use of the Allengra fuel flow meters at this weekend's Austin race, which will go ahead unaffected unless the immediate step of an emergency temporary restraining order is issued - something that is not currently being sought by Sentronics at this stage.
Instead, it is seeking financial compensation for lost profits dating back to the July 2022 issuance of its patent.
RacingNews365 has reached out to both the FIA and Allengra with a request for comment.
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