Will Merc PUs still reign supreme with hot test piric victory for other teams?

[John S]

Seems like Toto was up to usual F1 sandbagging when protesting heavily about change of Regs on engine compression, he's now voted in favour of new earlier hot testing. 

He'll say it was about the principal of fairness to stick to the printed rulebook, and that's a good point, however he was probably not as fussed as other PU makers were over subject, it appears he simply used the controversy to wind up rivals. 

According to Motorsport-Magazin, the proposal to introduce a new fuel compression ratio check in August is off aggenda.
It will now arrive in June instead, suprisingly all 5 engine makers voted in favour - even Merc. 

Mercedes’ rivals changed their minds about the August timeline after Toto Wolff’s surprisingly positive reaction. Two months earlier than planned, the engines will be tested at 130 degrees, in addition to the pre-existing room temperature checks.

From 2027, the power units will only be measured when hot. Contrary to the prevailing understanding, the compression ratio actually drops on track, so it should be easier to comply with the 16:1 limit in theory.

Now for the rub: Motorsport-Magazin also reports Merc have apparently found a way to reach 16.3:1 at temperature, much lower than the 18:1 that’s been widely touted but still a meaningful advantage, with competitors only at 15.2:1 when hot.