The FIA has banned a qualifying trick used by Mercedes and Red Bull-powered teams that exploited an emergency safety override to gain a power advantage at the finish line. F1i is reporting that the governing body stepped in after teams found a way to bypass mandatory power restrictions during their qualifying laps.
The technique involved triggering an emergency MGU-K shutdown to dump all remaining battery energy at once, rather than following the required gradual 50kW-per-second power reduction. This provided drivers with an immediate 50-100kW boost right before the timing line – a significant advantage in qualifying where pole position is often decided by thousandths of a second.
The loophole exploited a safety feature designed to prevent sudden power loss that could cause high-speed collisions. While the emergency override carries a 60-second MGU-K lockout penalty, this consequence is meaningless at the end of a qualifying lap when drivers head to the pits at reduced speed.
Technical Complications Emerge
The trick was widely used during the Australian and Japanese Grands Prix, but not without costs. In Japan, the technique's complexity caused Alex Albon to stop on track after a qualifying simulation, while several other drivers faced technical complications from being locked out of their hybrid systems.
Ferrari led calls for a ban, with the Scuderia arguing that while the practice technically followed the regulations, it had become a "systematic" performance tool rather than the safety fallback it was intended to be.
Regulatory Response
The FIA has now updated the software protocols for the Standard Electronics Control Unit (SECU), making clear in a letter to teams that the override function is strictly for genuine emergencies. Officials will monitor telemetry to identify violations, with the 60-second lockout making it easy to spot teams triggering the system without clear mechanical failures.
The ban highlights the ongoing challenges of policing the complex 2026 power unit regulations, with teams continuing to find creative interpretations of technical rules. The FIA's swift response demonstrates its commitment to preventing systematic exploitation of safety features for competitive advantage as the season progresses.
Source: F1i