Strategy

FIA Grants Mercedes One ADUO Engine Upgrade as Red Bull Powertrains Set the ICE Benchmark

Answer

Confirmed

Following the FIA's first Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) assessment of the 2026 season, Mercedes has been granted one engine upgrade homologation for 2026 and one for 2027. Red Bull Powertrains was declared the ICE benchmark, placing Mercedes more than 2% adrift. Ferrari, Audi and Honda, each more than 4% behind, received two upgrades apiece.

Red Bull Powertrains named the ICE benchmark

Formula 1's first ADUO assessment of the 2026 season has produced a result that surprised much of the paddock. The FIA notified manufacturers on Monaco Grand Prix race day of the outcome of its ICE Performance Index evaluation, covering the opening five rounds of the season: Australia, China, Japan, Miami and Canada. ^[1] Red Bull Powertrains was declared the benchmark under the FIA's criteria, meaning it does not qualify for any additional upgrade opportunities. ^[1]

What Mercedes receives under the rules

The sliding-scale structure of ADUO is straightforward. Manufacturers trailing the benchmark ICE by between 2% and 4% receive one upgrade homologation for the current season and one more for 2027; those trailing by 4% or more receive two upgrades in 2026 and two additional upgrades in 2027. ^[2] Sky Sports News reviewed the FIA document, which confirmed Mercedes is more than two per cent behind Red Bull's power unit, placing the Silver Arrows in the first bracket. ^[2] Mercedes therefore receives one upgrade for 2026 and one for 2027. ^[2]

Ferrari, Audi and Honda were each judged to be more than four per cent adrift of Red Bull, entitling all three to two homologations this season and a further two next year. ^[1] The FIA's ADUO note does not specify exactly how far behind each of those manufacturers sits within the bracket, meaning the precise cost-cap relief each will receive remains known only to the FIA and the relevant manufacturers. ^[1]

How the ICE Performance Index is calculated

The index is built on internal combustion engine data only. The FIA measures factors including input shaft torque, engine speed and MGU-K power output, weighted for power sensitivity on lap time across a defined set of measured laps. ^[3] Because the assessment covers the ICE alone and excludes the Energy Recovery System, a manufacturer that leads on combustion output can sit below a rival in the overall power unit performance picture. ^[3]

The FIA has deliberately withheld the precise methodology from competitors to prevent any attempt to game the metric. ^[7]

The 2027 upgrade and cost-cap relief

Any ADUO upgrade that goes unused in the season for which it is granted is forfeited, while an upgrade allocated for the following year remains valid. ^[3] In addition to the extra homologation windows, eligible manufacturers receive supplementary spending headroom outside the power unit cost cap. Manufacturers between 2% and 4% behind receive allowances up to $3 million per assessment period; the bands widen to $4.65 million for those 4-6% adrift, and beyond. ^[3]

:::analysis The central tension in this ruling is that ADUO evaluates ICE output in isolation, yet grants upgrade freedom across the entire power unit, including the ERS. Mercedes has built its 2026 performance advantage substantially on hybrid deployment rather than raw combustion output, which is why Red Bull's first-ever ICE can rank above it on the FIA's narrow measure even as Mercedes-powered cars have won every race this season. Whether the one upgrade homologation Mercedes holds represents a meaningful development lever, or merely a regulatory curiosity, will depend on how much ICE performance the team's engineers can extract in an eight-to-ten-month development cycle, as Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton noted publicly in Monaco. The more consequential question heading into the Red Bull Ring weekend is what the ruling means for competitors such as Ferrari and Aston Martin (Honda), who now hold two upgrade tokens each but face a moving target: Mercedes will also be allowed to improve its ICE, so the relative gap may prove stubborn even with the extra development freedom. :::

Next assessment windows

The ADUO mechanism operates across three evaluation periods in 2026. The second window covers Rounds 6 through 11, from Monaco to the Hungarian Grand Prix, and the third covers Rounds 12 through 18, from the Netherlands through to Mexico City. ^[3] Results from the third period feed directly into 2027 development allocations. ^[6] ADUO grants are not cumulative within a season and apply only from the first occasion a manufacturer qualifies. ^[2]