Mercedes and Red Bull have been taking advantage of the trick in qualifying.

Ferrari car chases Mercedes car on track
Ferrari are believed to have asked the FIA for clarification on the trick being used by Mercedes (Image: Getty)

The FIA has reportedly moved to outlaw an engine ‘trick’ used by Mercedes and Red Bull to give them an advantage during qualifying. Following a request for clarification on the rules by Ferrari, who complained in particular about Mercedes’ use of what appeared to be a lookhole in the regulations, the motorsport governing body has taken action.

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Mercedes handed FIA ban after Ferrari complaints about George Russell’s engine advantage

Mercedes and Red Bull have been taking advantage of the trick in qualifying.

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By Daniel Moxon

Ferrari car chases Mercedes car on track

Ferrari are believed to have asked the FIA for clarification on the trick being used by Mercedes (Image: Getty)

The FIA has reportedly moved to outlaw an engine ‘trick’ used by Mercedes and Red Bull to give them an advantage during qualifying. Following a request for clarification on the rules by Ferrari, who complained in particular about Mercedes’ use of what appeared to be a lookhole in the regulations, the motorsport governing body has taken action.

Mercedes High Performance Powertrains and Red Bull Powertrains are the two engine manufacturers believed to have found a “clever” way to deploy more electrical energy for longer towards the end of a flying lap. The trade-off means it would be useless in a race but certainly a powerful weapon if used correctly in a qualifying session.

Instead of ‘ramping down’ the deployment level when approaching the end of a lap, which needs to be done to avoid a dramatic drop-off in power, those two manufacturers had found a way to maintain the power for longer – the trade-off being that the MGU-K part of the engine would be disabled for a time afterwards. That is why it would not be a practical tactic for a race, but is helpful in qualifying as engine power and lap time are not an issue once a flying lap has been completed.

The regulations, as they were, allowed for teams to shut down their MGU-K in an emergency, in order to protect other engine components from being damage in the case of a failure or impending issue. It was never meant to provide a potential competitive advantage, but Mercedes and Red Bull are said to have found a way to use it as one anyway.

They will not be able to do so anymore, however, as The Race reports that the FIA has stepped in to ban the practice. It comes after an unfortunate side-effect of the ‘trick’ was exposed at the Japanese Grand Prix, when Mercedes and Red Bull cars were left moving very slowly after qualifying simulation runs in practice, and Alex Albon’s Mercedes-powered Williams broke down altogether.

The FIA warned manufacturers that such side-effects could be dangerous, but said after the Suzuka race that the ‘trick’ was within the rules. That has now changed, however, after talks between the governing body and Ferrari, who had reached out to get clarification over the safety risks posed by those side-effects. Naturally, the Scuderia were also keen to curb any extra advantage their rivals were getting from using it.

In updated technical rules sent out to each manufacturer, the FIA has made it clear that use of the MGU-K shutdown feature for anything other than a genuine emergency won’t be tolerated. The governing body will be able to easily police the issue by studying the data from any cars seen to have used it during a practice or qualifying session.

While Ferrari may see it as a small victory, this trick is far from the only reason why the Mercedes engines are so far ahead on power in these early weeks of the new regulations cycle. They believe they remain more than two percent down on power compared to the engines being used by the Silver Arrows and so will look to use F1’s Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunity (ADUO) to help them to further close the performance gap to the championship leaders.