Red Bull dismisses rumors that it is the benchmark for the allocation of the ADUO and quantifies Mercedes’ advantage. Beyond the bluff…
Formula 1 is becoming increasingly political, especially during this very delicate phase of the new regulatory cycle concerning power unit performance. After extensive discussions during the forced April break, the FIA, teams, and engine manufacturers reached an initial compromise on energy management and electrical power deployment starting from the Miami Grand Prix, aiming to address the issues that emerged in the very early phase of the championship.
The solutions that will be introduced will certainly not make life easier for engineers, nor for fans trying to understand how everything works. However, the real engine battle is only just beginning, just a few weeks away from the definition of performance hierarchies and the allocation of ADUO development “tokens” for 2026 and 2027.
Who will be the real reference?
It is clear that everything will depend on the evaluation parameters — it should be remembered, these relate only to the internal combustion engine and not the electric component — and on who ends up at the top of the ranking drawn up by the FIA. The impact will obviously be significant, not only for this season, and therefore team attention is almost entirely focused on this aspect.
Despite FIA precautions in drafting this section of the regulations, suspicion of manipulation is in the air, with some manufacturers allegedly hiding part of their true performance potential.
On top of this, there is another factor affecting ADUO evaluation, linked to specific design choices for the thermal component. This is the case, for example, of Ferrari, which deliberately opted for a smaller turbo, gaining certain advantages — like improved responsiveness at launch — at the expense of actual power output from the internal combustion engine. This element is also still under discussion, particularly regarding whether it should be considered in the final evaluation or not.
Who will be the real reference?
In recent days, The Race reported speculation within the paddock suggesting there is a belief that Red Bull, and not Mercedes, currently has the best engine and is therefore the benchmark to look at (also opening the door, however unlikely, to the possibility of development allowances even for the Silver Arrows).
This would be a rather unusual scenario, especially considering Toto Wolff’s concerns and doubts on the matter. The Austrian team principal has expressed a degree of caution regarding the ADUO system, explaining that, in his view, it should only be granted to Honda due to their clear struggles, and not to other manufacturers who could benefit and potentially overturn the competitive order.
Red Bull ‘denies’: Mercedes is significantly ahead
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has quickly pushed back against claims about the best engine, convinced both that these are clear lobbying attempts aimed at influencing FIA decision-making and that Mercedes actually holds a substantial advantage over the rest of the field. A gap that, according to him, must be acknowledged and kept under control as much as possible.
“The game of trying to rank everyone has been going on since the Bahrain tests, but let’s try not to get into it. The only thing we can see from the data is that Mercedes is clearly ahead and one team (Honda, ndr) is particularly far behind,” Laurent Mekies said, as reported by The Race. “Ferrari and Audi are probably quite close to us.”
“Extracting fair performance data for internal combustion engines across all teams is very difficult. I think the overall results probably provide the most accurate and objective picture of everyone’s situation. Internally, however, we estimate that Mercedes’ margin is at least three tenths per lap.”
Mekies also pointed out that a large part of the gap — in lap time terms — linked to the power unit is attributed specifically to the thermal component, as electrical power is limited and will be even more restricted from Miami onwards.
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