FIA clamps down on engine trick
F1 has implemented a ban on a controversial engine 'trick' teams used in qualifying, a regulatory move called out across paddock social feeds this week. ( ) The discussion around the ban has been prominent in fan and media posts, signaling high sensitivity to perceived technical loopholes in qualifying performance. ( )
The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile has barred a qualifying power-unit tactic that Mercedes- and Red Bull-powered teams had used to gain speed at the finish line. (the-race.com) The tactic exploited Formula One’s 2026 hybrid rules, which make the motor generator unit-kinetic — the electric motor on the rear axle — reduce output in steps of 50 kilowatts per second near the end of deployment. Mercedes and Red Bull found a way to keep full deployment for longer instead of following that ramp-down. (the-race.com) Under the 2026 rules, the motor generator unit-kinetic can deliver up to 350 kilowatts, and the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile had already adjusted qualifying energy use once this season, cutting the maximum permitted recharge at Suzuka from 9 megajoules to 8 megajoules on March 25, 2026. (formula1.com, fia.com) The loophole sat inside an emergency shut-off function for the motor generator unit-kinetic. If a team switched that system off for technical reasons, it did not have to follow the normal ramp-down, but the tradeoff was a 60-second lockout before the system could be used again. (the-race.com, the-race.com) That 60-second penalty made the move too costly in a race lap, but not at the end of a qualifying lap, when drivers were heading into a cooldown lap or back to the pits. The Race reported the gain could be worth 50 to 100 kilowatts for a short burst and only hundredths of a second in lap time. (the-race.com) Rival teams first noticed the pattern in Australia, and the issue became more visible in Japan at the end of March. Williams driver Alex Albon stopped on track in practice at Suzuka, while Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen also slowed sharply after flying laps when the locked-out system left them short of power. (the-race.com) The governing body’s intervention lands before the Miami Grand Prix on May 1-3, 2026, the next race on the calendar. Formula One’s official event page lists sprint qualifying on May 1 and grand prix qualifying on May 2 in Miami Gardens. (formula1.com) The clampdown is the latest change to a 2026 rules package built around new cars and a new power-unit formula. The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile’s regulations hub describes the 2026 framework as the start of a new era, and the governing body said after Suzuka that more discussions on energy management were scheduled in the coming weeks. (fia.com, formula1.com) For now, teams still have the emergency shut-off for genuine technical trouble. What they no longer have, according to The Race’s April 14 report, is a free qualifying boost on the run to the line. (the-race.com)
