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FIA single seater director Nikolas Tombazis says the FIA wants “people to be competing on the track, not in the courtroom or in the stewards’ room”.
The biggest controversy that emerged at the beginning of 2026, has centred around the legality of Mercedes’ new power unit.
More specifically, rival F1 teams have accused Mercedes of having found a way of getting around ‘compression ratio limits’, as described in the new regulations.
These teams are calling for the regulations to be amended, which could lead to Mercedes’ power unit being deemed illegal.
FIA single seater director Nikolas Tombazis says the FIA is working on finding a solution to this situation, before the season begins in March.
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“As these engineers are very clever and always pushing for an advantage,” Tombazis said.
“Some have found ways to potentially increase it [the compression ratio] when the engine is running hot, and that is the discussion we’re having now.
“We’ve spent a lot of time discussing how we solve those issues, and our intention is of course to solve them for the start of the season. We don’t want to have controversies.
“We want people to be competing on the track, not in the courtroom or in the stewards’ room, and that’s what we try to do,” he concluded.
