Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
The FIA is reviewing their engine performance after Red Bull was named as the power unit manufacturer with the best Formula 1 engine.
As part of the Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) system, the FIA has judged the pecking order of engines for 2026 power unit manufacturers – Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari, Audi and Honda.
Sky Sports News The document, which was released to teams earlier this month, said every power unit manufacturer except Red Bull would be allowed to upgrade engines this season.
Mercedes are believed to be more than two percent behind Red Bull’s power unit, so will receive an engine upgrade this year, while Ferrari, Audi and Honda will be given two upgrades as they are believed to be more than four percent behind Red Bull.
As for the benchmark engine, Red Bull, who developed their own power unit for the first time in F1, will not receive an engine upgrade.
The FIA is yet to officially confirm the results Sky Sports News F1’s governing body is understood to be assessing their results and in talks with all teams, including power unit manufacturers, ahead of next week’s Austrian Grand Prix.
Possibility of engine upgrade after first review subject to confirmation from FIA
Red Bull and Mercedes split in ADUO results
ADUO only looks at the performance of the internal combustion engine, and not the electrical components of the power unit which make up about 50 percent of the output.
At the weekend’s Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, Max Verstappen said he was “surprised” Red Bull had the best engine ranking, as rivals Mercedes won six of seven races this season.
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mackis said: “We’re absolutely right that the rules say you only try to guess the pecking order of ICE (internal combustion engine) power. We’re absolutely fine with that; we’ve all agreed on that, and we don’t think it’s a problem.
“Where we definitely want to have a deeper conversation is because we don’t see a single data sample that indicates that we will have an advantage over our friends at Mercedes.”
Red Bull seems unsure how they are the only power unit manufacturer (PA) without engine upgrade opportunities.
Mackies confirmed that Red Bull had “opened a very good dialogue” with the FIA to “make sure they get the right picture” and “there is an element of common sense”.
“It’s actually a very difficult measurement to make. We have a sensor in the car that tries to measure it, which has a lot of limitations,” he said. Sky Sports F1.
“You have a lot more information to try and guess how to get the engine across the pit lane.”
Please use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Sky Sports News’ Craig Slater looks at how Red Bull built Formula 1’s ‘benchmark’ power unit
Apart from the upgrade for this season, Mercedes is likely to have one upgrade for 2027 while Ferrari, Audi and Honda are likely to have two.
Two more ADUO reviews will take place later this year, after the Hungarian Grand Prix at the end of July and the Mexico City Grand Prix at the beginning of November, which will affect the 2027 season.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said the opportunity to upgrade the engine was “helpful” and thought it was “quite easy” to measure the amount of power from the internal combustion engine.
“It’s information that they (the FIA) have measured and collected. There’s no political background, no bias, but it’s the result of their analysis of the torque sensor and the way it’s being done, and that’s the result,” Wolff said.
Does F1 need ADUO?
The FIA has made it clear that ADUO is not a system to artificially balance the field and Wolff has directed F1 to ensure it avoids a situation like 2014 where Mercedes had a huge advantage in the first season with the new power unit regulations.
“We were on the good end of it, but that’s what we wanted to avoid, especially with newcomers like Audi and to a certain extent Honda with Aston Martin, Red Bull, of course. And that’s what it is, and that’s what it should be.
“I get allergic rashes when talking about BoP (Balance of Performance..). It’s something we should be far away from Formula 1. It’s a political mess in all other series. It also takes manufacturers out of the sport, and I’ve come very close to it, as you can imagine, in DTM, GTs, Le Mans.
“We should never tempt anyone to agree on how the balance of performance should be compromised. If there’s a system that consists of fine-tuning to make sure that no one is embarrassed by the power unit, I think that’s the right way, because when you look at aerodynamics, it was invented for a completely different situation.”
Toto Wolff says Mercedes engine upgrade opportunity “helpful”
However, Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle and Jacques Villeneuve are unsure about the ADUO system.
“To be honest, I don’t like the whole thing. Formula 1 is about excellence, not lowest common denominator,” Brandel said.
“Obviously, you have to give Honda, or someone else who’s really struggling, a leg up, maybe the audio can do it. But at the end of the day, you have the opportunity to improve the power units and I think it should just be about excellence.”
Villeneuve added: “It’s confusing and in the end it’s not that Mercedes gets help – because the other teams get two helps – it’s that Red Bull kind of goes down there.
“I don’t like this rule where one team is allowed to improve their car but one team isn’t. You shouldn’t have that in F1. You have rules and if you do a good job, good for you!”
Formula 1’s European season continues with the Austrian Grand Prix on June 26-28, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports now – no contract, cancel anytime
