This time the FIA ​​has intervened. According to colleagues from The RaceMercedes and Red Bull will no longer be able to take advantage of a ruse that could give them an advantage in qualifying, to avoid the rules that impose power reduction when the cars consume battery energy on the straights.

The rules require the delivery of electrical energy to be reduced by 50 kW per second when approaching the finish line, while Mercedes and Red Bull found a ‘trap’ to avoid the sudden drop and maintain full power for as long as possible.

The advantage, according to rumors, could be worth less than a tenth of a second, but when you are in the fight for pole position, even the smallest detail can make the difference.

It must be said that the two teams under observation did not commit anything illegal, because the F1 technical regulations allow them to take advantage of a regulatory loophole that makes it possible to avoid a drop in electrical power if the MGU-K is “turned off” due to a technical problem. In essence it was a recovery mode that the FIA ​​has granted to the Manufacturers: the MGU-K software could be suddenly deactivated to act in an emergency, thus avoiding the possible risk of damaging the power unit.

The rule, therefore, was intended to protect reliability, while Mercedes and Red Bull were clever in turning it around to gain a performance advantage, although after forced shutdown, the electric motor was left without power for 60 seconds…

It is evident that the resource could not give any advantage in the race, while careful use in qualifying allowed greater performance to be extracted by being able to take advantage of extra power in the final stretch, causing the MGU-K to turn off just after the finish line, and the subsequent loss of all electrical power for a minute.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images

Mercedes and Red Bull understood that the drivers, on the return lap to the pits, did not need to take advantage of the MGU-K after a qualifying lap, and could exploit the greater power while respecting the regulations.

The issue had already arisen in Australia and was repeated in Japan, while it was not applied in China because the finish line was too close to the last corner and the advantage of turning off the MGU-K would have been slim.

But beyond the surplus of usable power in a part of the straight, it was all too clear how the drivers who had “turned off” the MGU-K found themselves in serious difficulties in moving their cars, even running the risk of becoming dangerously blocked on the track. In Suzuka, both Antonelli (Mercedes) and Verstappen (Red Bull) had serious problems dealing with the fast speeds due to a lack of power.

The FIA, taking note of the danger that could be generated in classification, has decided to prohibit this practice. Ferrari had asked the governing body for regulatory clarification, even though it was aware that the scheme fell within compliance with the rules. Based on the analysis of the telemetries, the FIA ​​stewards are in a position to evaluate whether the eventual disconnection of the MGU-K occurred in search of performance or for possible reliability reasons.

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– The Motorsport.com team