Sentronics sues Allengra over Formula 1 fuel‑flow patent

Sentronics Holdings Ltd, a British company that supplied Formula 1 with fuel‑flow meters from 2018 until 2025, filed a patent‑infringement lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas on 16 October 2026, just days before the United States Grand Prix.

Patent claims and technology

The complaint focuses on U.S. Patent No. 11,391,609, awarded to Sentronics in July 2022, which covers a method of measuring fuel flow using ultrasonic signals travelling in opposite directions. Allengra GmbH, the German supplier that replaced Sentronics for the 2026‑2030 seasons, is accused of using the same phase‑modulation technology, a claim that the complaint says was confirmed by laboratory tests in late 2024.

Sentronics is seeking a jury trial, financial compensation and a permanent injunction to stop Allengra from supplying its meters in the United States. The lawsuit does not impose an emergency restraining order, so the use of the meters at the Circuit of the Americas, Miami and Las Vegas remains unaffected for the time being, although the outcome could affect future races.

The case highlights the importance of fuel‑flow monitoring in Formula 1’s technical policing and the competitive stakes of the supplier tender process. Sentronics had lost the FIA contract to Allengra in a tender held in November 2024, a change that the lawsuit claims was built on alleged infringement and that has cost the British firm potential profits since the patent was granted in 2022.