Red Bull again recorded as F1's most powerful engine by FIA
Red Bull have again been found to have the most powerful engine in Formula 1, according to the FIA's latest rankings issued on Wednesday after Sunday's Dutch Grand Prix, the 12th race of the season. The finding repeats the first set of results from three months ago and will disappoint Red Bull, who had been hoping to be allowed the possibility to upgrade their engine.
The FIA introduced the additional development and upgrade opportunities (Aduo) process this year as part of the regulations governing the new hybrid engine rules, with the aim of allowing manufacturers who have a deficit a chance to catch up. The mechanism has been agreed with all the power-unit manufacturers but remains controversial because Mercedes are widely believed to have the best overall engine performance. The Aduo programme measures only the power of the internal combustion engine; the electrical elements of the power unit, which the FIA says account for nearly 50% of the total performance, are not included.
A statement from the FIA said Mercedes were "determined to be in the 2-4% window" (behind the best internal combustion engine), while Audi, Ferrari and Honda were all determined to be "above 4%". That classification means Mercedes are allowed one additional upgrade in 2026 and one in 2027, and the other manufacturers, bar Red Bull, two. The FIA repeats the Aduo assessment every six races.
Mercedes have won eight of this season's 12 races so far, while Red Bull have won none. Red Bull established a new engine design and manufacturing facility to produce an engine for this year's new rules. Red Bull's Max Verstappen is sixth in the drivers' standings after 12 races.
Nikolas Tombazis, FIA director of single-seaters, said: "The FIA has undertaken thorough and exhaustive analysis as part of our Aduo review process. "With the release of the findings of period two, we are confident that, based on the quality of the data, its analysis is incredibly robust, giving us a high level of confidence in our findings. "We also have to respect the confidentiality and intellectual property of the teams and their power-unit manufacturers in disseminating any details from the findings. "This is the first year of Aduo so naturally there are areas which we may evolve over time, in discussion with all the power unit manufacturers."
The latest findings were published after the Dutch Grand Prix; because the Aduo process is conducted every six races, the next assessment will follow the next six-race interval.