Red Bull 'on the limit' of F1 rules after Mercedes 'trick exposed'

Red Bull is on the "very limit" of F1's new power unit regulations after Mercedes' compression ratio trick was exposed, according to its engine chief. 

For 2026, the compression ratio of the new breed of power units has been decreased to 16:1 from the previous 18:1 level, with reports emerging over the winter that Mercedes, and potentially Red Bull, had developed a way to meet the 16:1 limit when measured at ambient temperatures, but could exceed it with higher temperatures when on track.

An advantage of nearly three-tenths per second of the Albert Park circuit for the season-opening Australian GP had been claimed as the technical row bubbles between manufacturers and the FIA.

Mercedes is yet to comment on the compression ratio, but ahead of the launch of the new Red Bull RB22 machine, featuring Red Bull Powertrains first engine, the technical director of RBPT, Ben Hodgkinson, addressed the topic.

"From a purely technical point of view, the compression ratio limit is too low," Hodgkinson told media, including RacingNews365. 

"We have the technology to make combustion fast enough that the compression ratio is way too low; we could make 18:1 work with the speed of combustion that we've managed to get.

"It means there's performance in every tenth of a ratio that you can get, so every manufacturer should really be aiming at 15.999, as far as they dare when it is measured.

"I think there is some nervousness from various power unit manufacturers that there might be some clever engineering going on in some teams, but I am not quite sure how much of it to listen to.

"I've been doing this a very long time, and it is just noise. You have to play your own race, and I'm confident that what we're doing is legal, and of course, we're taking it right to the very limit of what the regulations allow. 

"I'd be surprised if everyone hasn't done that, so my honest feeling is I suspect it is a lot of noise about nothing, and I expect everyone is going to be sitting at 16:1."