Here is a wild legal twist hitting the paddock just in time for the race weekend, as Motorsport.com reports. Formula 1's former fuel flow meter supplier, Sentronics Holdings Ltd, has taken its replacement to court in Texas. The British company filed the case against German manufacturer Allengra GmbH in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas on 16 October, just days before the United States Grand Prix in Austin. According to the court docket, Sentronics has demanded a jury trial and filed two exhibits alongside its complaint, claiming that the sensors now fitted to every car in the championship infringe its patent.
Fuel flow meters are critical little pieces of hardware. They measure how much fuel reaches each engine, allowing the FIA to police the flow limits set out in the technical regulations because a change in fuel flow means a change in power produced by the internal combustion engine. According to the complaint, Sentronics was the FIA’s exclusive supplier from 2018 to 2025 before Allengra won the contract for 2026 to 2030 in November 2024. Now, the two companies are butting heads over Sentronics' US patent, 11,391,609, which was granted in July 2022. The patent relates to a method and associated flow meter for measuring fuel flow rate in a vehicle using ultrasonic signals.
The complaint states that Sentronics’ own laboratory testing in late 2024 confirmed the infringement. It also alleges that Sentronics shared technical details with the FIA under a non-disclosure agreement. Beyond direct infringement, Sentronics accuses Allengra of encouraging the FIA and the teams to use the meters in the United States, including at the races in Austin, Miami and Las Vegas. The filing claims the infringement was a deliberate choice, adding that Allengra was told about the European version of the patent in August 2025, and that Sentronics’ lawyers sent a demand letter in April 2026 which Allengra’s US counsel disputed. The FIA reportedly confirmed receiving Sentronics’ earlier notice on 17 September 2025, noting its contents were duly noted.
Sentronics is asking the court to permanently ban Allengra from making, selling or supplying the meters in the US. Unsurprisingly, it is also seeking damages for lost profits and royalties dating back as far as 2022, and wants those damages tripled due to alleged wilful infringement.
Thankfully, the race weekend will not be affected at all. Sentronics has not asked for an emergency ban that would stop the usage of these parts as Andrea Kimi Antonelli fights for his championship win, and the court has simply been asked to issue a summons as a normal step for serving the case.
