FIA names Red Bull best F1 engine as Mercedes and Ferrari land ADUO upgrades

The FIA has declared Red Bull's Ford-branded power unit the benchmark under Formula 1's 2026 Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) system. Mercedes secured one extra upgrade slot, while Ferrari and Honda earned two apiece after being judged more than four percent adrift in pure internal combustion engine output. Teams were notified on Monaco Grand Prix race day, with the first of three assessment windows closing after the Canadian round.

Why it matters:

• Mercedes may be dominating the 2026 championship, but the ADUO criteria deliberately ignore hybrid advantages to isolate raw ICE performance.
• That narrow focus handed Red Bull benchmark status, locking them out of extra upgrades while handing rivals valuable development tokens to chase combustion gains.
• The divergence between real-world competitiveness and the FIA's secretive measurement framework is already reshaping how manufacturers view their engine strategies.

The details:

• The FIA set the first pecking order after the Canadian GP, informing teams on Monaco race day.
• Red Bull sits above the 2% threshold as the lone benchmark, earning no upgrades.
• Mercedes was judged between 2% and 4% adrift, gaining one upgrade for 2026 and another for 2027.
• Ferrari and Honda were both deemed beyond 4% off the pace, securing two upgrades each for this season and next.
• ADUO covers only the internal combustion engine. Any edge from energy recovery, deployment strategy or battery management is excluded from the calculation.
• The FIA deliberately withheld exact metrics to prevent manufacturers from gaming the system.

What's next:

Mercedes and Ferrari now face the challenge of maximizing their extra homologations without hurting reliability. Two more assessment points remain in 2026, so the pecking order could shift again and alter upgrade paths. For Red Bull, being frozen out validates their ICE strength but leaves them reliant on chassis gains to stay ahead as rivals hunt combustion performance.