(Motorsport-Total.com) – The world governing body for motorsport, the FIA, is facing renewed criticism after former Formula 1 driver David Coulthard pointed out a lack of understanding of the regulations. The background is the ongoing debate about the compression ratio of the new engine generation for 2026, in which Mercedes is said to have exploited a gray area.
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Coulthard has clear words for the situation. In the Up To Speed podcast, he sharply criticized the world governing body’s justification: “Well, here’s the thing. You mentioned the FIA. It’s the governing body of Formula 1. And I recently read how they said: ‘Well, we’re only about 20 people writing the rules, while the Formula 1 teams have hundreds of people, which is why we didn’t discover and close the loophole’.”
For the former vice world champion, this is not an acceptable argument. He demands that the rule-makers must take the actual operating conditions of a racing car more into account.
“If the rule-makers, to be honest, did a better job of understanding the operating window of a Formula 1 car… The operating window of a Formula 1 car is not in the garage at ambient temperature. It’s out on the track. The engine temperature is at 110 degrees, everything is red hot, the brakes at over 1.000 degrees. That is the area for which they should design the rules and regulations,” Coulthard further explained.
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The compression ratio is one of the central technical changes within the framework of the new regulations. While the value was previously 18:1, the FIA reduced it to 16:1 for 2026. However, reports already emerged in December 2025 that Mercedes had found a way to achieve a higher compression ratio on the race track. This is said to be possible because, according to the current protocol, the measurement is only carried out when stationary and at ambient temperature.
To close this loophole, a rule change has now been proposed that could come into force on 1. August 2026. The engine manufacturers, the FIA, and Formula 1 management must vote on this proposal soon. Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff emphasized several times that the power unit is legal and the design was approved by the FIA.
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