Ferrari will not lodge a protest at the Australian GP over Mercedes’ alleged engine trick. For weeks the way the Silver Arrows are said to be raising the compression ratio of their power unit has dominated paddock conversation. Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur is chiefly demanding clarity: ‘We will not protest in Melbourne’.
It was a hot topic even during the first test week in Bahrain: the compression ratio of the Mercedes power unit. The Silver Arrows are reportedly said to have found a method that raises that ratio on track through thermal expansion, while the unit complies with the 16:1 regulation in a static state. Mercedes’ rivals are demanding clarification, with Ferrari at the forefront.
“My position on this is that for me — when we began with the new regulations for the battery, the engine, the chassis, the tyres, the sporting rules, everything — it was by definition clear that we were moving into an area where grey zones would arise,” Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur told the media in Bahrain. “The fact that teams, and sometimes the FIA itself, interpret the rules in different ways is, in my view, a direct consequence of the new regulations. That’s always been the case in F1.”
The Ferrari team principal is demanding clarification on the whole issue. “The most important thing for me is clarity,” Vasseur continued. “If everyone can accept that we’ve made mistakes or that we didn’t understand each other properly, then we need a clear boundary now. In any case, I expect a clear decision.”
No protest
If the FIA, during the upcoming meetings on the topic, does not choose to adjust the compression-ratio tests, Ferrari will nevertheless refrain from filing an official protest in Melbourne. “We are not going to protest there,” Vasseur confirmed. “Our goal is to get clear regulations and to ensure everyone has the same interpretation of the rules, but I’m not talking about a protest.”
F1 calendar for 2026
