The first evaluation window for the ADUO (Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities) mechanism has officially closed, and the FIA’s formal verdict has completely upended the paddock’s expectations.
Initially, the review was tied to Montreal, but with the cancellation of early-season rounds in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, the FIA shifted the evaluation to analyze telemetry immediately following the Canadian Grand Prix. The data has been cross-analyzed, and the official baseline order is finally public.
The big story? Contrary to months of paddock rumors pointing to Mercedes as the engine to beat, Red Bull Ford Powertrains (the DM01) has emerged as the official performance benchmark for the 2026 regulations.
Because ADUO is a cost-cap and development relief mechanism based on how far a manufacturer lags behind the top engine, the FIA has handed out upgrade “tokens” based on specific performance deficits:
The ADUO Performance Hierarchy & Concessions
- Red Bull Ford Powertrains: The Benchmark. The DM01 is officially the most powerful engine on the grid right now, meaning Red Bull receives zero ADUO development concessions. However, while powerful, Max Verstappen’s DNF in Monaco has highlighted that their main focus now shifts to iron out reliability.
- Mercedes: Found to be 2% behind Red Bull. Mercedes was widely expected to be the class of the field, but they have been granted one upgrade for 2026 and another for 2027 to close that narrow gap.
- Ferrari & Audi: Found to be 4% behind Red Bull. Both manufacturers played a bit of tactical poker leading up to the review but are confirmed to be lagging slightly. They have both been granted two upgrades for 2026 and two for 2027, along with corresponding budget cap relief to fund the R&D.
- Honda: The Worst Performer (4%+ behind). Aston Martin’s sluggish start to the season is now mathematically explained. Honda is struggling significantly with the new hybrid split and will receive the maximum allowance of two upgrades per season, alongside additional development time to prevent an unbridgeable multi-year deficit.
“We’ve got now these tokens to try to develop and close the gap. But that’s like an eight-to-10-month project, so it’s not something we can just do next week.”
— Lewis Hamilton, speaking on Ferrari’s 4% deficit after the Monaco/Canada data review.
What Happens Next?
Don’t expect the competitive order to shift by the time the grid arrives in Barcelona. Because these are complex Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) and electrical deployment architectures, implementing these newly granted ADUO upgrades is a long-term engineering play.
The manufacturers who received tokens are already drawing up the blueprints, but it will take the better part of the season before these unrestricted parts actually hit the track. For now, Red Bull holds the ultimate power advantage, while their rivals have just been handed the financial and regulatory tools to hunt them down.
