fia bans mercedes red bull trick has become the latest flashpoint in Formula 1 after the FIA moved to shut down a qualifying method used by Mercedes and Red Bull. The practice had allowed both manufacturers to keep maximum electrical deployment longer at the end of a lap, instead of following the normal ramp-down requirement. The issue surfaced most sharply in Japan at the end of March, where the side effects became difficult to ignore.
How the FIA clampdown took shape
The trick centered on the MGU-K and the way power had to be reduced as cars approached the timing line. Under the usual rule, deployment is meant to fall by 50kW every second, but the workaround let teams delay that drop and gain a short burst of extra power. That could create an advantage of 50kW to 100kW for a brief period, which was enough to matter in a qualifying fight for grid positions.
The concern for the FIA was not only the competitive edge. The regulation allowed the MGU-K to be shut down for technical reasons, including emergencies, but the line between a legitimate shutdown and a tactic for performance had become blurred. To discourage abuse, a continuous offset mode was already in place, locking the MGU-K out for 60 seconds after shutdown. Even so, Mercedes and Red Bull found that a slow-down lap after qualifying left them room to use the trick without an obvious downside.
Why Japan forced the issue
Rivals first noticed the pattern in Australia, but the matter escalated at the Japanese Grand Prix. During practice in Japan, Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen both had moments where they were left limping through the Suzuka Esses because of a lack of power. Williams’s Alex Albon was forced to stop on track in practice because of complications linked to the same issue. Similar problems had also appeared at the 2026 season opener in Melbourne, though the connection was not fully clear at the time.
The FIA had warned that the side effects could be dangerous, and the situation made the case harder to ignore. By the end of March, the problem was no longer just about a clever qualifying gain. It had become a question of whether the workaround was creating risks that the rules were never meant to permit.
Immediate reactions inside the paddock
Ferrari played a part in pushing the issue back to the FIA by requesting clarification on the rules, particularly around the safety risks created by the side effects. The governing body then moved to act, ending the loophole that had given Mercedes and Red Bull their advantage. The crackdown now closes off a tactic that had been legal in form, but increasingly difficult to defend in practice.
Juan Pablo Montoya, a former Formula 1 driver, gave a broader defence of Mercedes’ power unit in a separate debate over legality. “For me, it’s kind of crazy to say that it’s not in the rules, ” Montoya said. “If the rule says [you need to] measure at this temperature and you go and measure at that temperature, and the engine is [deemed] legal, that’s what the rule says. ”
What this means going forward
For now, the FIA ban on the qualifying trick removes one of the small but meaningful margins that can shape starting order. The effect may be measured in hundredths rather than tenths, but in Formula 1 that is often enough to change a session. The wider lesson is clear: the fia bans mercedes red bull trick not only because it created performance gains, but because it exposed a safety and interpretation problem the governing body could no longer leave alone.
Attention now turns to how teams adapt once the workaround is fully closed off and whether further checks around power unit behavior will follow. With the fia bans mercedes red bull trick decision now in place, the next test will be whether similar gray areas appear elsewhere in the rules.
