Christian Horner has never been one for hand-wringing about clever engineering, and he isn’t starting now.
Amid the growing noise around 2026 power unit compression ratios — and the suggestion in some corners that certain manufacturers are “cheating like wildcats” — the former Red Bull team principal has waved away the outrage, framing the whole affair as a familiar Formula 1 ritual: engineers reading rules, spotting margins, and exploiting them before anyone else does.
“That’s a big statement,” Horner said in an interview on Australia’s *Today* show. “Formula 1’s about pushing the boundaries. It’s about how you interpret regulations. Always has been and always will be.
“Teams that are the most conservative are the teams that are never at the front of the grid. You’ve got to be pushing the envelope.”
The backdrop is a technical dispute that’s landed squarely in the FIA’s lap before a wheel has even turned in anger for the new era. Mercedes and Red Bull Powertrains — the latter operating as Red Bull Ford Powertrains — are alleged to have found a way, within the wording as it stands, to run effectively higher compression ratios once the engine is up to temperature and working on track.
The detail at the centre of the argument is the measurement method. The regulations stipulate that the compression ratio is checked at ambient temperature, with no equivalent test once the unit is hot and under load. Rivals believe that loophole allows a nominal 16:1 figure at ambient conditions to become something closer to 18:1 when it matters.
In pure performance terms, it’s the kind of edge that makes everyone else nervous for good reason. Higher compression improves thermal efficiency — and with 2026 set to be a regulation set where energy management and efficiency are currency, any early gain is more than a nice-to-have. It can shape design choices downstream, not just in the engine department but in how a team wants to package cooling, deploy electrical energy, and manage fuel over a stint.
And the sting in the tail is homologation. If a manufacturer turns up with a stronger concept and gets it signed off, the rules restrict how freely rivals can pivot to match it. That’s why the political temperature in the engine meetings is rising: nobody wants to begin a new cycle staring at a locked-in deficit.
Audi, Honda and Ferrari are understood to be among those pushing the FIA for clarity, and discussions have already moved beyond paddock whispers into formal process. There have been meetings and a technical workshop, with the matter now heading toward another session of the Power Unit Advisory Committee, slated for Thursday.
Ferrari engine technical director Enrico Gualtieri confirmed ongoing engagement with the governing body during the team’s season launch, making it clear that Maranello wants a resolution — and soon — but is, at least publicly, keeping its faith in procedure.
“We are still discussing with them [the FIA],” Gualtieri said. “We had a meeting, a technical workshop and we are going to have an additional one in the next days, up to the [next] PUAC meeting.
“So we are approaching the topic together with them [the FIA]. We are certainly trusting them for managing the topic in the proper way, going through the procedures and the governance that is in place by regulation.
“We completely trust that the process could come in the next days and weeks.”
What’s doing the rounds in the paddock is not just the technical question, but the practical one: even if the FIA wanted to act quickly, how does it do so without detonating a political row on the eve of a major reset?
Mercedes supplies four teams, Red Bull Ford Powertrains supplies two. Between them, that’s more than half the grid tied to two manufacturers who, unsurprisingly, wouldn’t be expected to back a late clarification that trims a perceived advantage. That imbalance doesn’t decide what’s right, but it does shape what’s possible — and how fast.
Horner, who founded Red Bull Powertrains and was central to its early direction during his time running Red Bull, is now watching from the outside. He’s no longer a daily paddock operator, but his instincts remain those of someone who has lived these fights: if the rulebook lets you do it, you do it — and you make everyone else prove they can stop you.
“Of course, it’s all about how you interpret regulations,” he said. “Engineers, some of the brightest engineers on the planet, will be looking at those regulations and thinking, okay, how can I maximise performance?”
While the compression debate grinds through committees, Horner’s immediate focus is more theatrical than technical. He’s set to undertake a three-date speaking tour in Australia in the days leading up to the season-opening Australian Grand Prix — an event he is not expected to attend. Horner will appear in Melbourne on February 24, Sydney on February 26, and Perth on March 2.
“It’s a great way just to reflect on my career, the highs, the lows, the sport, the drivers we’ve had,” he said. “Hopefully it’ll be interesting, and people will enjoy a bit of a behind the scenes insight into the challenges of Formula 1.”
It’s a neat bit of timing, intentional or not. As the sport tries to police the fine print of its next era before it begins, one of the architects of a key new engine programme is on the other side of the fence, casually reminding everyone how this game has always been played. The engineers will keep reading. The FIA will keep adjudicating. And the rest of the grid, as ever, will keep asking one blunt question: are we about to start 2026 already chasing?
