What is ADUO? the new F1 rule
Engine manufacturers will have a development window, but certain requirements must be met
In the midst of a forced vacation due to the conflict in the Middle East, the holiday season Formula 1 sets his sights on the weekend Miami. Not only because of the teams’ return to the track, but because there it will be decided which manufacturers will be able to use the ADUO and people are wondering what is that?
We explain what you need to know about a rule that could change the future of several teams on the grid.
What is the ADUO and what is it for?
ADUO is the acronym in English for Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities, which in Spanish would be something like “Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities.” A window of opportunity that FIA created so that engine manufacturers that do not have the necessary power to fight at the top try to catch up throughout the season.
The ADUO is necessary because at the beginning of each season the teams must homologate their engines before the FIA prior to the first race and the only changes they can make are only to improve reliability and not power, that is, if you started slow, you were doomed to continue slow.
The FIA It is known that three manufacturers are developing power units completely from scratch (Audi, Red Bull and Sling), with a radical 50/50 power split between internal combustion and electric. The risk of a performance gap emerging has never been greater than it is now.
The context is important. Let us remember that, in 2014, mercedes It came with an engine so superior that it took four years to have any real competition. The ADUO exists so that this specifically does not happen again.
When there are such big changes, two things happen: some manufacturers take advantage of them better than others, and huge gaps appear between teams. That is exactly what is happening. In it Chinese Grand Prixthe difference between first place in classification and tenth was more than a second. mercedes He has a clear advantage at the front of the grid.
How does it work?
The FIA It measures the performance of each manufacturer’s combustion engine with something they call the “ICE Performance Index”, basically assigning a value like a ranking to each engine. That number is compared against the best engine on the grid, which today is the mercedes.
Depending on how big the difference is the ADUO is applied. If the engine is between 2% and 4% below the best, it receives an extra update in 2026 and another in 2027. Estimates indicate 10 horsepower difference. If the engine is more than 4% below the best, you receive two extra updates this year and two more next year.
ADUO upgrades are not cumulative within a season and are only granted upon the first occasion the manufacturer is assessed as eligible. Manufacturers who receive them can introduce the improvements in the first race of the following period. The season is divided into three evaluation blocks: rounds 1 to 6, 7 to 12, and 13 to 18. At the end of each block, the FIA will review the numbers and decide who gets help.
‘The rule is made, the trap is made’
As in the F1 no one wants to help others, it is suspected that mercedes has not shown its true power to create the illusion that Ferrari and Red Bull They are closer to their performance and the ADUO will not be opened, which would give them additional time to improve their engines and close the distance with the team led by Toto Wolff.
It could also happen that teams like Ferrari pretend to be slower to take advantage of the ADUO and not only reach mercedesif not surpass it in terms of performance, which could give a turn to a season that until now seems like it would be a walk for the Brackley team that has completed 1-2 in the 3 races so far this campaign.
And who will benefit?
The first thing is that the ADUO only applies to manufacturers: mercedes, Sling, Red Bull, Audi and Ferrarinot for client computers, which means that McLaren, Alpine and Williams that use motors mercedes will not benefit for two reasons: the first is that mercedes Since it is the best engine, it would not have ADUO to improve; The second is that client teams do not develop engines.
It is speculated that Ferrari, Audi and Sling They will qualify for ADUO, with Honda having such a large deficit that it can probably get two updates this year.
The head of engineering Sling On track, Shintaro Orihara, openly acknowledged that they won’t see major performance improvements until the ADUO arrives. Fernando Alonso He was barely able to complete a full race distance for the first time in Japan.
Ferrari also seems to be on the list. Fred Vasseursaid that they will have to wait for this mechanism to see a clear improvement.
Audi is the absolute newcomer. It is his first season in F1 and they are building everything from scratch. Simply finishing the races is an achievement for the German team, but with the possibility of ADUO in sight it is likely that they can get closer to the other mid-table teams.
Red Bull It is the most curious case. Laurent Mekies believes that they will qualify for ADUO, but the RBPT engine has surprised by being competitive since the preseason, which could paradoxically leave them out of the list. Everything indicates that the RB22 problem is in the chassis and not in the power unit, which could even worsen the team’s situation in the face of a possible exit from Max Verstappen.
When is it officially confirmed?
The cancellation of the dates of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia generated confusion about when the ADUO will be applied for the first time. The FIA will not move the original evaluation dates, so the technical evaluation will take place after the GP of Miami and for him Monaco GP We will know which manufacturers will receive the help.
Does this change the season?
Potentially yes, and a lot. Yeah Sling, Ferrari and Audi receive their updates before Canadian GPthe second half of 2026 could look very different than the first. What today seems like a season of dominance mercedes It could turn into a real fight.
The system is a smart bet by the FIAbut it was created assuming that everyone plays fair, and in this sport no one plays fair. The question is not whether the ADUO will function as designed. The question is who will play it better.
